“Unemployment is due to the large import of goods from Britain and other countries. The Government haven't used the powers which they have for the benefit of the country.” CountryGovernmentUsedHavensBenefitsDuesBritainGoodsOther CountriesUnemploymentImports Author:Eamon de Valera
“There are too many countries where the values we take for granted in our civil servants simply do not exist. Seeing these values in action, applied with dedication by hardworking individuals, makes me proud to lead a service that is making life better for millions across Britain.” CountryActionValuesIndividualMillionsSeeingProudGrantedServantBritainDedicationHardworkingCivil Servants Author:Gus O'Donnell, Baron O'Donnell
“If you do the things that Britain needs to do - namely, withdraw from NATO, get rid of the bomb, and stop being aligned with one side of the Cold War - then presumably the run on the pound, the result in the stock exchanges of the world, will be fairly catastrophic for the economy. But some sort of political realignment is plainly what this country needs.” IfsWorldNeedsWarCountryRunningPoliticalSidesResultsEconomyColdBritainBombsPoundsCold WarNatoStock Exchange Author:David Hare
“The barbarian chieftain, who defended his country against the Roman invasion, driven to the remotest extremity of Britain, and stimulating his followers to battle, by all that has power of persuasion upon the human heart, concludes his exhortation by an appeal to these irresistible feelings - "Think of your forefathers and of your posterity."” ThinkingHumansHeartCountryFeelingsBattleDrivenAppealsBritainFollowersHuman HeartPersuasionPosterityInvasionIrresistibleThink Of YouBarbariansForefathersExtremityPower Of Persuasion Author:John Quincy Adams
“Fifty years from now Britain will still be the country of long shadows on county grounds, warm beer, invincible green suburbs, dog lovers and pools fillers and - as George Orwell said - “old maids bicycling to Holy Communion through the morning mist” and if we get our way - Shakespeare still read even in school.” IfsWayYearsLongSaidStillsCountrySchoolMorningDogLoversHolyShadowGreenWarmBeerBritainFiftyPoolCommunionCricketMistInvincibleSuburbsMaidsDog LoverWell SaidHoly CommunionOld MaidsFillersLong ShadowsMorning Mist Author:John Major
“Unilateral disarmament by Britain is opposed to our country's best interests, could begin the unravelling of NATO and therefore jeopardise the stability of Europe.” CountryInterestEuropeOur CountryBritainStabilityDisarmamentNato Author:James Callaghan
“We still retain in Britain a deeper sense of class, a more obvious social stratification, and stronger class resentments, than any of the Scandinavian, Australasian, or North American countries.” StillsCountrySocialClassStrongerObviousDeeperBritainResentmentScandinavians Author:Anthony Crosland
“We will reflect the country we aspire to govern, and the sound of modern Britain's is a complex harmony, not a male voice choir.” CountrySoundVoiceModernHarmonyComplexesMalesBritainAspireChoirModern Britain Author:David Cameron
“I understand that in the UK there have already been 10,000 complaints from viewers about these remarks, which people see, rightly, as offensive. I want Britain to be seen as a country of fairness and tolerance. Anything detracting from this I condemn.” PeopleWantCountryToleranceBritainFairnessOffensiveComplaintsViewersRemarks Author:Gordon Brown
“We argued, as did the security services in this country, that the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq would increase the threat of terrorist attack in Britain. Tragically Londoners have now paid the price of the government ignoring such warnings.” CountryGovernmentSecurityIncreasePaidThreatIraqTerroristBritainWarningAfghanistanTerrorist AttacksLondoners Author:George Galloway
“When Tony Benn became a minister in the 1960s -- and I think this must be apocryphal -- he had a huge map of Britain hung upside down in his office, so the channel was at the top and Scotland was at the bottom and, apparently, he said, "This is how we need to look at this country, with the money and the power draining by force of gravity out of the south east." That was a great idea. I rather liked him for that. I don't know if it's actually true or not.” IfsThinkingKnowsNeedsLooksSaidIdeasCountryForceHugeOfficeSouthBottomEastMinistersBritainMapsGravityHungScotland1960sGreat IdeaUpside DownDraining Author:Neal Ascherson
“Virtually every war fought since the Act of Union had gone badly at some stage, but before 1783 none had ended in defeat. Nor would any major war in which Britain was involved after this date end in defeat. Those who are curious about this country's peculiar social and political stability probably need look no further than this for essential cause.” NeedsLooksWarEndsCountryPoliticalSocialCausesGoneStageInvolvedEssentialsMajorsUnionsDefeatCuriousBritainStabilityPeculiarBritish History Author:Linda Colley
“In virtually every Continental state at this time, aristocracies had to live with the risk that their property might be pillaged or confiscated. Only in Great Britain did it prove possible to float the idea that aristocratic property was in some magical and strictly intangible way the people's property also. The fact that hundreds of thousands of men and women today are willing to accept that privately owned country houses and their contents are part of Britain's national heritage is one more proof of how successfully the British elite reconstructed its cultural image in an age of revolution.” PeopleMenWayIdeasCountryStatesFactsMightAgeTodayHouseAcceptingRiskWillingRevolutionProveMen And WomenPropertyBritishProofBritainHeritageElitesFloatsAristocracyGreat BritainIntangibleBritish HistoryContinentalAristocraticCountry Houses Book:Britons: Forging the Nation, 1707-1837 Source: Britons: Forging the Nation, 1707-1837