Britons Agree on What Matters Most — So Why Does Everything Feel So Divided?
A large study by the research firm Public First has found that people across the UK share the same core values: hard work, fair play, and community. The study, published on 11 August 2026, asked 6,000 adults questions and talked to 300 people in focus groups. The Guardian
More than 65% of people felt that after Brexit, Britain is more divided than ever. Fewer than one in three felt hopeful about the UK's future. Seven in 10 felt things have gotten worse in the last five years. Still, three-quarters of the public believed British people share a common set of values. That ranged from 70% of Reform UK voters to 83% of Labour-leaning voters. The Guardian
In the study, 70% of people described hard work as a British value. Eighty percent agreed Britain was at its best when neighbours looked out for one another. People who had volunteered in the last month were much more likely to feel good about where they live. Sixty-two percent of recent volunteers felt optimistic about their local area's future, compared with only 25% of people who had never volunteered. The Guardian
Half of respondents said immigration had a negative impact on the UK. Only one-fifth said a diversity of people and cultures made them proud to live in the UK. Just 27% thought the royal family played the biggest role in upholding British values today. Olivia Walsham is the director of social policy at Public First. The Guardian
Sunder Katwala, the director of British Future, said the report showed British people had become not only more divided but more uncomfortable about how divided they feel. The Guardian
A 2026 article in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies argues that 'fairness' has been used as a quiet but powerful reason to justify the UK's hostile immigration environment — policies designed to make it very hard for people to stay in the UK without legal permission. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
The four British values taught in UK schools are democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and respect and tolerance. Buckinghamshire New University
The broader context here is the gap between what people believe and how they feel about the country. The Public First data paint a picture of a nation that knows it shares a moral framework built on hard work, fair play, and community, yet still feels broken apart. Think of it like a family that agrees on its core principles but spends every holiday arguing. The fact that 62% of recent volunteers feel optimistic about their local area, compared to a quarter of those who never volunteer, suggests that getting involved in your community protects you from feeling gloomy about the country. Optimism survives close to home, even as the national mood darkens.
The fact that so many people believe in shared values while also feeling the country is more divided than ever raises a hard question: who counts as part of the community? When 70% of people call hard work a British value and half say immigration is a negative force, the line between 'us' and 'them' gets blurry. The academic argument that 'fairness' underpins tough immigration policy helps explain this. If fairness is used as a reason to keep people out, then believing in fair play and being wary of immigration might not be a contradiction at all. It might be the same value applied in different ways.
For institutions like the monarchy, the message is sobering. Only 27% of people see the royal family as the main upholder of British values. The four values taught in schools — democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and respect and tolerance — are a government-approved list that doesn't match what the public actually cares about. People point to hard work, fair play, and community instead. The Public First study suggests that when it comes to British values, people trust their own everyday experience more than any official definition.
