British Values
PowerPoint from https://www.tes.com/teachingresource/british-values-assembly-11037833 by
colwynexile
Created Apr 9, 2015
Updated Apr 9, 2015
Licence CC-BY-SA
This resource is available to UK teachers.
has been edited by Heidi Moden
British Values
• Democracy ‘a system of government by the whole
population or all the eligible members of a state, typically
through elected representatives.
• The rule of law ‘the restriction of the arbitrary exercise
of power by subordinating it to well-defined and established
laws.’
• Individual Liberty ‘the liberty of those persons who are
free from external restraint in the exercise of those rights
which are considered to be outside the province of a
government to control’
• Mutual respect ‘possessed, experienced, performed,
etc., by each of two or more with respect to the other;
reciprocal: to have mutual respect’ i.e.;
1. Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
2. Tolerance for those without faith.
What are ‘British Values’?
According to the Department for Education, British Values are;
1. Being able to influence the decision making process
through the democratic process.
2. Knowing that living under the rule of law protects the
individual.
3. Knowing that some public bodies (like the Courts) are
independent of the control of politicians.
4. Having the freedom and protection to choose and hold
the belief and faith you want.
5. Accepting that other people have their own faiths, beliefs
and opinions, and that this is tolerated and is not to be
the cause of discriminatory behaviour.
6. Being able to identify and combat discrimination
1.Being able to influence the
decision making process
through the democratic process
Influencing the decision making process
is being able to vote for a Government
in elections that are free and fair.
Anyone can be an MP as long as they;
• Are over 18
• Are British/Irish /a member of the Commonwealth, the
Republic of Ireland, Cyprus or Malta
• 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
2. Knowing that living
under the rule of law
protects the individual
Some rules of the law;
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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 not allowed to drive cattle through any London street
between 10am and 7pm - but you can after.
You are not allowed to use a taxi, the bus or the tube if you have the
Plague.
And the Black cabs are not allowed to carry rabid dogs or corpses.
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.
3. Knowing that some public
bodies (like the Courts) are
independent of the control
of politicians
The idea being that the rule of law can not be
corrupted by the Government in power and no
one, despite how wealthy or powerful they are
above the law.
Nobody, 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.
• Chris Hune, a potential leader of the Lib Democrats
tried to get his wife to accept his speeding points
(perverting the course of justice) for which he was
jailed for 6 months.
• Tory peer Lord Hanningfield was jailed for 9 months
in 2011 after being convicted of falsely claiming
nearly £14,000 in parliamentary expenses. His
defence was that he did nothing wrong, only what
everyone else was doing – Clearly not taking
responsibility of his actions.
4. Having the freedom and
protection to choose and hold
the belief/faith you want
You may not like it – but it’s a very British Value to
accept that all things have the right to exist.
•You can be what you want to be and believe what you
want to be, 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.
5.
Accepting that other people
have their own
faiths/beliefs/opinions 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.
• There is an important caveat to this. 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
6. Being able to identify and combat
discrimination
• 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.
Letting all these people say what they believe in public
is definitely a British Value, something they may not
always show themselves.
So how do we keep British values?
Most of the values we think of as British are common to most areas
around the world. The only difference is we make more of an
effort to implement it into every day life;
• Use your vote, there are areas in the world where it makes no difference, it
does here.
• Feel safe that there are laws that protect you; there are other areas of the
world where the opposite is true.
• Be happy that 800 years ago this year, the Magna Carta was signed, to
ensure justice was served if you should break the law no matter who you
are or how rich you are.
• Believe what you want (even if it’s something like the illuminati run the
world).
• Accept people can say what they like in a free society.
• However, if it is offensive and threatens any of the values above, make a
stand against it.
Simply put, do your civic duty, treat others like you want to be treated and
stand up for those that are pushed around.