AFTER the Conservative Party conference closed what were the takeaway messages?

One is that we should not be ashamed to be patriotic.

Yet I don’t recognise the ‘patriotism’ Theresa May and her party espouses.

I wasn’t born in England, though I am British and a UK citizen. I am patriotic.

For example, I support the country of my birth, Wales, in sport, I cherish its culture, I value its history.

Patriotism for me is summed up by the values a nation embraces.

Compassion, understanding, tolerance, are all vital.

Providing a safe haven, comfort, security, freedom of speech for those who are oppressed is essential. 

This country is becoming increasingly foreign to me. I see less compassion, less tolerance, less understanding.

I don’t want children catalogued by the country of their birth, the languages they speak, the colour of their skin or their religious beliefs.

I find it abhorrent that many of those who came to this country to work in essential services treating our sick, injured and dying citizens are being used as a ‘bargaining chip’.

How vile is it to be told by our ministers that you can stay, for now, but once we have enough of ‘our own’ doctors and health workers ‘you can go back to where you came from’.

They are our own. They are our essential workers, our friends, our colleagues.

This is not ‘patriotism’ as I recognise it.

It is an insidious form of nationalism that relies on fear, racism and, If this is what patriotism is becoming, I reject it.

  • James D Williams is a lecturer in education at the University of Sussex School of Education and Social Work