“It would be easy to conclude that the British are simply fooling themselves if they think they are liberal and tolerant. In fact, there is nothing inconsistent in what people tell pollsters. It only appears incoherent if you assume a liberal framework of universal rights and values that applies to everyone. This is often taken as a given, and anyone who thinks otherwise is condemned as morally deficient. In fact, there is an intellectually coherent way of understanding this opposition—the British are not classical liberals, but communitarians.”
Essay in the new issue of Prospect. (January 2008)