In a tournament largely dominated by the usual suspects of footballing powerhouses, an unlikely narrative has emerged from the sidelines. The World Cup hosts, whose team crashed out in the group stages with a whimper rather than a bang, have been lauded for their organisational prowess and unflinching adherence to the rules of hospitality. But one cannot help but notice the irony: the same British values of fair play, punctuality, and stoic resilience that the hosts have been praised for embodying are precisely those we are told are outdated at home.
As the nation’s unemployment figures worsen and inflation gnaws at household incomes, the government’s spending spree on ‘levelling up’ has done little to foster such virtues. Instead, we have a bloated state and a central bank caught between a rock and a hard place on interest rates. The hosts, meanwhile, have shown that fiscal discipline and a sense of duty can still yield global respect.
Capital flight from the UK to markets with lower taxes and fewer regulations is a silent vote of no confidence in our own leadership. As the World Cup final approaches, the real question is: will British values survive at home, or will we become mere spectators in the global economy as well?
