S2 E6 Imagining a new Britain, 20 years on

Who do we think we are?

Who do we think we are? In the early 2000s, with the beginning of the New Labour government, journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown asked this question, calling for a radical reimagining of who was considered as British and outlining her hopes for a new Britain. In this special episode, she joins Michaela Benson in conversation to consider why 20 years later we’re still asking the same question. She draws out the differences between now and then; shifts within the Conservative Party from Thatcher to the present-day; what this means for questions of race, migration and belonging; New Labour, migration and the Iraq War; Meghan Markle; the challenges ahead for keeping hope alive and the small

You can access the full transcripts for each episode over on the Rebordering Britain and Britons after Brexit website.

In this episode we cover …

1 New Labour, immigration and citizenship

2 Conservative Party from Thatcher to the present-day

3 Meghan Markle

Quote

… if Labour is going to do anything meaningful, it needs to be addressing who we are, and who we can be and who we want to be. And use its period in power, not to social engineer, but to tell a proper history, for example, to educate our children differently, maybe to get sections of the media to reflect the country we are not the country they wish we were.

—Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

Where can you find out more about the topics in today’s episode?

You can find Yasmin on Twitter or via her column in iNews.

Her book Who do we think we are?

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