Proud to be British

"Proud to be British" is not something you would normally hear me say, for me it conjures up images of either "Oh Alfred do be so kind as to pass the souffle to Margaret would you dear" or white pasty legs and big beer bellies wandering the streets of some foreign concrete jungle (a.k.a. Spain/Ibiza) looking for fish and chips and the premier league footy on TV.

Uncharacteristic as it may be though, this phrase, or a statement that equates to it, has passed my lips a fair number of times in these last few weeks. I must have reached Asia saturation point, or something recently has been the straw that broke this travelers back, but suddenly a pride which has been welling up inside me has broken loose.

I am proud, proud to be from a country where anyone can walk into the tourist information office and get unbiased advice and help. I'm proud to come from a country where the colour of your skin doesn't change the price of milk in a shop. I'm proud to be from a country where we have a monopoly commission so that there is competition which leads to fair prices. I'm proud to come from a country where I am entitled to legal representation and even more basically entitled to access a justice system. I'm proud that I come from a country where health care is free at the point of need and where my chances of receiving treatment isn't directly related to the amount of money in my hands. I am proud to be from a country where I can't buy favor in terms of the law. I am proud to be from a country where infrastructure is thought through, where the rubbish gets dealt with properly and where the water is drinkable.

I am proud to be British.

P.S. Larry says he's proud to be Irish too, but I don't think any of us ever doubted that! :-)