He begins with the assertion that there are discernible differences between national characters, that “anyone able to use his eyes knows that the average of human behaviour differs enormously from country to country”. In his seminal 1941 essay ‘The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius’, Orwell was concerned with precisely the ways in which patriotism can be harnessed and used to serve systems of government.* Written in London during the Blitz ( “As I write, highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me”), Orwell’s essay offers a reconsideration of patriotism in the face of national crisis. I mean, of course, Eric Arthur Blair, or, as he’s more commonly known, George Orwell. May’s acceptance of patriotism, indeed, recalls that greatest of left-wing thinkers: Blair. However, if we can take anything useful from May’s speech it might be the idea that there is a more subtle distinction to be made between the negative forces of nationalism and the positive potential of patriotism. Read alongside the home secretary Amber Rudd’s speech at the same conference, which suggested that British companies with high numbers of migrant workers should be ‘named and shamed’, the whole conference felt a like a large-scale version of the familiar phrase “I’m not racist, but…”.

The speech, which transparently aimed to draw in post-Brexit Leave voters from Labour and Ukip alike, contained the message that it is okay to be a patriot, and that it is not okay to suggest that patriotism is akin to xenophobia or racism. Because if you’re well off and comfortable, Britain is a different country and these concerns are not your concerns.

They find the fact that more than seventeen million people voted to leave the European Union simply bewildering. During the Conservative Party Conference last week, the prime minister gave a speech critical of those in the political class who turn up their noses at the public’s patriotism, national pride, and pro-British sentiment: They find your patriotism distasteful, your concerns about immigration parochial, your views about crime illiberal, your attachment to your job security inconvenient.

George orwell on nationalism