Ross Kemp and Gary Lineker lead push to get Britain speaking throughout divides
At a time of fraught political tensions and division in communities, a host of big names are backing a push to take the country back from extremists, and to build bridges not walls
Famous faces – including Ross Kemp, Gary Lineker and Delia Smith – have urged people to focus on the things we share as part of a project to bring the nation together.
At a time of fraught political tensions and division in communities, a host of big names are backing a push to take the country back from extremists on all sides, and to build bridges not walls.
The National Conversation, launched earlier this year, is compiling views from the public on how their community and this country should look, and what it means to be British.
In a voice note for the project, EastEnders legend Ross said: “I think we’re a great country. That doesn’t mean we’ve got everything right. We haven’t. And you know what? We won’t.
“But I think we do share values, ideas, and even eccentricities that mean we fight for the underdog, stand up for fairness on what is right.
“It’s what drove us to stand against the Nazis in our finest hour but it was also what made us look after our neighbours in Covid.”
His sentiments were echoed by TV star Gary, who said: “What is it that holds us together when social media and politics is trying to tear us apart? You see it in stadiums every weekend: different people cheering for the same thing.
“I think our country can be a bit more like that where we don’t focus on our differences, but on what we are building together, where we are going.”
Chef Delia said: “What I would dearly love for my country and for the world is just one word, and that’s unity.
“If we could all join forces so that it’s us who are making all the decisions and running things, I think the world and our country would be a better place.”
Actor Eddie Marsan said in his voice note: “I want a country where, in the words of Jo Cox, we realise that we have more in common than what divides us and we see ourselves in the other. We see ourselves in the more vulnerable, the dispossessed, the poor.”
And playwright James Graham added: “I just wish we could find ways and make more effort together to sometimes put ourselves in each other’s literal company so that better, healthier, more reasonable conversations and more surprising conversations can happen.”
Former Cabinet Minister Sir Sajid Javid, who co-chairs the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion, said: “We often talk about what unites us as a country – this is the first serious attempt to actually map it out.
“Tens of thousands of people have already participated so make sure you don’t miss your chance to share your experience and to have your voice heard. ”
The Mirror is relaunching our ground-breaking ‘Britain Talks’ project in September, which will carry on from where the National Conversation ends. Using technology pioneered by our partners, Die Zeit in Germany, we will match you to someone who sees the world differently.
Mirror readers, and anyone who wants to step away from division, are urged to sign up here.
