There is one place in the 21st century where it is particularly unfashionable to be British. That place is, of course, Britain. If, down the local or at a dinner party, the conversation turns to matters of politics and identity and you dare proclaim yourself a British patriot, brows wrinkle, looks are exchanged and seats scrape back a few inches. Persist – explain that you look on this country with pride, respect and deep affection – and you risk the kind of heated argument that will ruin an evening.