No, Gordon, our institutions define us

Peter Oborne (London, Daily Mail): According to yesterday’s Guardian Gordon Brown told the Hay-on-Wye Festival that "Britain would not be a place defined by race or institutions" but by values such as “liberty, civic duty, fairness and internationalism.” Can a nation truly be defined only through abstract values like fairness and civic duty? I have nothing against them, on the contrary, but do they distinguish us from other countries which possess them like Sweden or France? (It would hardly be internationalist to suggest that they are uniquely ours). Definitely Britain is not to be defined in racial terms. But is it really true that Brown rejected any definition of this country in terms of its institutions? It is only thanks to them that we live and deliver our values. Britain can truly be defined only through our great historic institutions like parliament, monarchy, judiciary, the armed forces, universities – and, once, cabinet government. With their distinct histories and traditions these are special to this country and embody our national identity. Sometimes Brown has said that he wants to add the NHS or the BBC. But this concedes the point. What is unique, particular and defining are our institutions. And when they fail us, or are undermined, our values fail us too.