An interesting, insightful article on the nation-state as something that is suspended by disbelief, and where disagreements flare-up where what is believed differs widely between different groups.

A minor criticism from me is that the article contains many conflations of British, anglo-, and English. But since the main thrust of the piece is about how different people imagine a nation, I think it’s excusable. I, as a Scot who has never lived in any of the other nations of the UK, am of course keenly sensitive to any suggestion (intended or not) that England=the UK. That is how I imagine the UK. Penny will have her own, possibly anglo-centric, view. But that’s not unusual.