Matthew Revell

My mate Stuart often talks about the five best things about the UK. I don’t know if I’d put it in my top five but I love the Last Night of the Proms.

I enjoy it as tradition for tradition’s sake, for overtly celebrating Britishness, for its constancy throughout my life. Making it more representative of the UK as a whole has worked brilliantly and watching people celebrate their regions and regional emblems gives me a surge of pride.

It’s true, this country has some terrible things in its past but that shouldn’t be a reason to forget all the great things. I’m British now and I love my country now. No country’s past or present are perfect; real life is far too complicated for that.
I’m sure I’d love my country were I American, French or Indian. My patriotism is fairly simple: I love being British because it’s what I know and what I do best, not because I believe it elevates me above anyone else.