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We shouldn’t really talk of national or cultural values. We should talk of ethical and wholesome values. To speak of British or Asian values is meaningless, because it suggests that all are united on a common set of principles, or that all citizens make up a monolithic whole, united in what they value.

Of course, British schools are now required by law to promote four key principles as the nation’s fundamental values: democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

A nice foundation, but one only needs to spend a week reading the British press or listening to conversations at work to realise that many of the most vocal proponents of notional British values do not really ascribe to these values.

In reality, most individuals and communities — divided by political affiliation, employment status, social class, regional ancestry or age — hold values pertinent to their own lives. Often those values are determined by their personal temperament.

One citizen may value equality, fraternity, social justice and the protection of worker rights, whereas another values tradition, racial nationalism, patriotic militarism and individualistic capitalism. Some may value open government, others the complete reverse.

For sure, those who espouse British values as being somehow unique would be surprised to learn that China’s national values are virtually the same. Its national values are prosperity, democracy, civility and harmony, and its social values are freedom, equality, justice and the rule of law.

Many in Britain would snigger to themselves reading of Chinese values, given everything they believe they know about the reality of state repression there. But national self-image and how you are perceived abroad are always two different things. Don’t you think those who have experienced British power overseas might likewise shake their heads reading ours?

Consultative and representative governance? Good. Rule of law? Excellent. Individual liberty? Perfect. Mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs? Wonderful. But these are ethical values, right? They have nothing to do with cultural belonging or national identity.

Rather than focussing on patriotic particularism, I’d much rather we spoke of ethical values. For me, that would connate concepts such as justice and equality, fraternal solidarity, compassion and care, fairness and honesty, and the preservation of life, liberty and property.