Cameron: ‘don’t be bashful about Britishness’

He sought to define British values in response to the furore over the supposed “Trojan Horse” plot in schools in Birmingham and called for a “muscular” promotion of those values.

“Sometimes in this country we can be a bit squeamish about our achievements, even bashful about our Britishness. We shouldn’t be,” he wrote in a newspaper article.

In the piece published in the Mail on Sunday, Cameron wrote: “The values I’m talking about – a belief in freedom, tolerance of others, accepting personal and social responsibility, respecting and upholding the rule of law — are the things we should try to live by every day.

“To me they’re as British as the Union flag, as football, as fish and chips.”

He added: “Our freedom doesn’t come from thin air. It is rooted in our parliamentary democracy and free press.”

The prime minister said the values he defined should be taught in schools as he sought to draw a line under the damaging row over the allegations of Islamic extremism in the Britain’s education system.

The education watchdog Ofsted found that a culture of fear and intimidation has developed at some of the schools it inspected. And Cameron’s government suffered a self-inflicted blow as a row between the Home Secretary Theresa May and her Cabinet colleague Education Secretary Michael Gove was played out in public.

Cameron wrote: “We are changing our approach further in schools. We are saying it isn’t enough simply to respect these values in schools — we’re saying that teachers should actively promote them. They’re not optional; they’re the core of what it is to live in Britain.”

‘Muscular’ promotion

The Culture Secretary Sajid Javid said he supported the prime minister’s plan to promote his definition of British values more prominently in schools. He warned that even small numbers of people were capable of having a significant negative influence.

“It’s always a small minority that spoils it for everyone and although it’s a small number they can have a great impact,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

“That’s what we’ve seen in these schools – that’s what we’re potentially seeing with British people going over to fight in Syria, which I think is unacceptable.”

Cameron’s approach to solving the problems caused by the allegations of Islamic extremism lead some to claim he was targeting Muslims. But Downing Street stressed that the prime minister’s comments were aimed at all sections of the community, not just Muslims.

He did, however, launch a more direct attack on Vladimir Putin administration in Moscow.

Cameron wrote: “The Western model of combining vibrant democracy with free enterprise has delivered great progress and prosperity, but it faces a challenge from more authoritarian models of economic development, like in Russia.

“The simple yet profound facts that, in our system, governments can be defeated in a court of law, politicians can be voted out of power, and newspapers can publish what they choose: these things aren’t weaknesses, they are fundamental strengths.

“Put another way, promoting our values is a key way to economic success.”