A foreign journalist reporting on the political problems of the British government right now recently asked me about “the mood in Britain”. It’s a challenge. Can anyone assess the “mood” in a complex country of 70 million people at a time of wars abroad, political division at home and economic disappointment?
Perhaps there is a clue from two very different moods, one of division, one of coming together. At Westminster, political divisions mean the country appears to be about to have a leadership challenge to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Elsewhere, all across the UK there is something more positive. Small towns and cities are gearing up for a series of traditional British cultural and literary festivals. The most famous ones – Hay-on-Wye and Edinburgh among others – attract authors and performers from around the world.
So, too, do some of my personal favourites, such as the Borders Book Festival on the Scottish-English frontier or the crime-fiction festival in Shetland plus other cultural events from London to York, Bradford to Faversham, with countless others in between.
Some of the books, authors and audiences at these events offer clues to answer “the mood in Britain” question. The common theme is that British political culture in the 2020s is often disappointingly toxic and Westminster politics alarmingly unstable. The predicted leadership challenge to Mr Starmer comes after the UK has had six prime ministers in 10 years. Add to this mix the rise of formerly fringe parties such as Reform UK and the Greens, along with the decline in support for Labour and the Conservatives, and a continuing police investigation into the former Prince Andrew and the “mood” may be seen as gloomy. Nevertheless, the titles of many of the books being discussed at this summer’s festivals are evidence of thoughtful introspection about our volatile political and public culture, along with ideas on how to put things right.
From the former UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt there is his book Can We Be Great Again? Why A Dangerous World Needs Britain. Mr Hunt has a follow-up to be published soon, Can We Be Rich Again? The Surprising Potential of Britain's Economy. Former defence secretary Penny Mordaunt has co-authored a fascinating book called Pomp and Circumstance: Why Britain’s Traditions Matter. She makes the case that the traditions of the UK may seem eccentric (they often are) but employed correctly they give us stability and the ability to adapt to new challenges.
Then there’s the former head of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and former national security adviser Peter Ricketts. He has a new book called Peace Makers, which is about the inner workings of the Foreign Office during the Second World War, and which has lessons for today. He tells the stories of some extraordinary (and again sometimes very eccentric) men and women whose skills helped win the war. The courage and resilience of some of the Foreign Office women of the 1940s is truly extraordinary.
Foreign writers also find Britain an inspiration and a suitable case for treatment. There’s the German historian Helene Von Bismarck’s insightful guide to the peculiarities of the British in Fantastic Kingdom: A Stranger’s Notes on a Contrary Country. And there are also insights from former Scotland first minister Nicola Sturgeon, in her autobiography Frankly, which ranges from her personal story and the fight for Scottish independence to the sometimes-toxic culture of politics.
Answering the foreign journalist’s question about the British “mood” therefore suggests a broad consensus about the disappointing state of British public life and politics coupled with optimism that the best of British traditions may be the country’s salvation.
Some governments and some politicians may do stupid things (and we can disagree about what those things are) but the UK is not a stupid or corrupt or incompetent country. I’m looking forward to hearing in person the views and opinions of the authors I mentioned and many more at book and cultural festivals across Britain this summer.
Taken together, they agree there is no magic bullet, no one reform, that will solve all of the UK’s problems – or those of any other country either. However, they all recognise that you cannot solve a problem until you recognise that the problem exists, and that recognition extends beyond these authors to tens of millions of British people who wonder why their essentially stable democracy keeps creating crises at the top.
Nevertheless, from Shetland in the north to Faversham in the south, to Edinburgh, Wigtown, Bradford, York and many other towns and cities, festival audiences – like most British people – are prepared to hear arguments with which they disagree, and celebrate politicians, diplomats, entrepreneurs, authors and thinkers who want to solve problems rather than create them.
Perhaps the real question is not the “mood” of the British people. It’s why this preference for problem solving is not reflected so clearly in the 650 MPs who in various ways are supposed to be in charge.
