British Values
So what are British Values?
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We can vote in the people who govern us.
We have laws that protect us.
No one is above the law.
We have the freedom and protection to choose and
hold the belief / faith we want.
5. We accept that other people have their own faith /
belief / opinion, and that this is tolerated and not be
the cause of discriminatory behaviour.
6. We stand up for people who are treated unfairly
We can vote in the people who govern us.
• This means being able to vote for a Government in
elections that are free and fair.
• Anyone can be an MP as long as they;
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Are over 18
You can find 10 people in the constituency to support you
Pay a deposit of £500
Are not a Policeman, judge, Bishop or Lord
Are not currently bankrupt
Have not committed a criminal offence where you were in
jail for more than a year
Because anyone can
try to be an MP, lots
of people do – even
if they have no hope.
That’s being British!
We have laws that protect us.
We have laws in place to protect the rights and
freedom of all citizens.
This also includes some pretty weird ones;
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It is illegal to have a pigsty in front of your house that can be seen!
It is illegal to sing a rude song in the street
It is illegal to play ‘knock-door-run’
It is illegal for a landlord to allow anyone to become drunk in their pub
In London, you can not fire a cannon or any weapon larger within 300
yards of a house
And you are no allowed to drive cattle through any London street between
10am and 7pm - but you can after
And you are not allowed to use a taxi, the bus or the tube if you have the
Plague
Only the Queen can eat a Mute Swan
It is illegal to be drunk and in charge of a cow in Scotland
No person may enter the wreck of the Titanic without getting permission
(despite it being more than 3 miles under the sea)
Polish potatoes are banned from the UK
And finally, it is illegal to cause a nuclear explosion
– (Definitely a British response to a dangerous situation – that’s what it is to be
British!)
No one is above the law.
The idea being that the rule of law can not be
corrupted by the Government in power, and noone, despite how wealthy or powerful they are
is above the law
• Wesley Snipes, actor from films such as Blade
and Demolition Man was jailed for 3 years for
tax evasion, despite trying to pay a portion of
what he owed to avoid jail
• Tory peer Lord Hanningfield was jailed for nine
months in 2011 after being convicted of
falsely claiming nearly £14,000 in
parliamentary expenses. His defence was he
did nothing wrong, only what everyone else
was doing – Definitely a British response to
being found out; blaming someone else!
We have the freedom and protection to choose and hold the
belief / faith we want.
You can be what you want to be and believe
what you want to believe – and no-one has the
right to tell you that you can’t.
Even if this goes against what we personally feel
and what we personally believe, we have to
uphold this
You might not like them – but it’s a very British Value to accept they have the
right to exist
We accept that other people have their own faith / belief /
opinion, and that this is tolerated and not be the cause of
discriminatory behaviour.
Everyone is treated the same regardless of sex,
colour, creed or sexual orientation
BUT
Not only must your ideals be tolerated, but you
have to tolerate other people’s ideals as well, as
much as you might not like them
Letting all these
people say what
they believe in
public is
definitely a
British Value –
something they
may not show
themselves
We stand up for people who are treated unfairly
• This is our ‘British Sense of Fair Play’. This is
where we stand up for the little guy, the
oppressed, the minority. This is where we say
no to bullies.
• This was the value that took us into two World
Wars.
• This was the value that led us to abolish
slavery over 200 years ago, long before most
western powers
So how do I keep British values in this
academy?
– Use your Student Council to make sure your views are heard.
– Feel safe that there are laws that protect you
– Recognise that the rules apply to everyone no matter who you
are!
– Believe what you want - it’s your right
– Accept people can say what they like in a free society
– However, if it is offensive and threatens any of the values
presented today, make a stand against it
– Support anyone who is being treated unfairly by another
student.
Simply put, do your civic duty, treat others like you want to
be treated, and stand up for those that are pushed around