A great British legacy: how will it play out today?

And all nations can learn from the standard set by the BBC and other British media sources in terms of documentaries covering current affairs and the scientific and natural world.

When you look at such a legacy it is not hard to understand why Britain has more ticker than most. Whether it be resisting any move to embrace monetary unity under a European currency, or by leading European efforts to reduce its greenhouse emissions, albeit it much of its industry pollution has moved to Asia.

But enough feel-good sentiment. Britain, like most other Western nations, faces immense problems today as its past great ideas come under threat.

In economic terms, Britain, which unlike Australia does not have immense amounts of minerals in the ground, must somehow create enough employment for an economy dominated by services. Free trade remains a great concept, but the economic success of authoritarian and mercantile China again challenges Adam Smith’s hopes. 

In societal terms, cutbacks to social welfare must be done in a fair way, or social gains made during recent decades may be reversed. Already by 2007, for every 100 people under 65 dying in the best-off areas, 199 were dying in the poorest, “the highest relative inequality recorded since at least 1921”.

In terms of immigration, its version of multiculturalism has been complicated by a significant number of British-born having little loyalty to British traditions. One 2006 survey found that 40 per cent of British Muslims wanted Sharia law in parts of Britain. Another 2011 poll suggested that 48 per cent of Brits would consider supporting a new anti-immigration party to challenge Islamist extremism, including making it statutory for all public buildings to fly the flag of St George or the union flag.

Even British attempts to lead the world are having a social cost, including government green energy policies designed to make homes more efficient and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A recent Fuel Poverty Review by Professor John Hills from the London School of Economics found that around 4 million of England’s 21.5 million households were paying more than 10 per cent of household income towards related bills. Mills warned that this could rise to 9.2 million by 2016, which would be equivalent to 43 per cent of all homes in England.

The challenges are indeed immense for a world which is still struggling to find an appropriate balance between national and international aspirations, and between economic and environmental considerations.

If Britain with its great and pragmatic history cannot get the balance right, then I suspect few nations will.