Comment: How the Blitz spirit鈥� defined and divided London after 7/7 Published on: 7 July 2025 Writing for The Conversation, Professor Darren Kelsey discusses the enduring idea of Blitz Spirit. , The 鈥淏litz spirit鈥� is one of Britain鈥檚 most enduring national myths 鈥� the stories we tell ourselves about who we were, and who we still believe we are today. Growing up among football fans, I heard constant nostalgic refrains about England and Germany, wartime bravery and national pride. Chants about or were cultural rituals, flexes of a shared memory that many had never experienced themselves. Blitz spirit refers to the resilience, unity and stoic determination of civilians during the German bombing raids (the Blitz) of the second world war. It has time and again, symbolising a collective pride in facing adversity with courage, humour and a 鈥渒eep calm and carry on鈥� attitude. After the July 7 bombings in 2005, which killed 52 people and injured more than 700, I noticed how quickly the Blitz spirit . British newspapers reached into the past and pulled the myth forward. Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. to receive all The Conversation UK鈥檚 latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences. The Independent on July 8 said, 鈥淟ondon can take it, and it can do so because its stoicism is laced as it always has been with humour.鈥� The Daily Mail evoked images of 鈥淟ondon during the Blitz鈥� with everyone dancing through the bombs鈥�. Tony Parsons opened his Daily Mirror column with 鈥�07/07 war on Britain: We can take it; if these murderous bastards go on for a thousand years, the people of our islands will never be cowed鈥�, alongside an image of St Paul鈥檚 . The spirit of working-class wartime London was, ironically, even applied to who 鈥渒ept the economy alive鈥� after the attacks. A July 8 Times article claimed: 鈥淎 Dunkirk spirit spread through London鈥檚 financial districts as Canary Wharf and City workers vowed they would not be deterred.鈥� The use of river transport to evacuate workers reinforced the analogy. The Times described how 鈥渂ankers and lawyers in London鈥檚 riverside Canary Wharf complex experienced their own version of the Dunkirk-style evacuations鈥�, assisted by a 鈥渇lotilla of leisure vessels and little ships鈥�. I was fascinated: why this story, and why now? That question became the heart of a 鈥� one that explored how a myth born in 1940 was reborn in 2005, repurposed for a very different London. What I found was that the 鈥淏litz spirit鈥� wasn鈥檛 a lie, but it was a myth : a simplified, selective story built from the most comforting parts of the past. Wartime Britain was not uniformly united, stoic and proud. There were deep class divides. Looting occurred. Morale was rock-bottom in many cities and communities. Evacuees weren鈥檛 always welcomed with open arms. Government censorship and transnational masked social unrest. Understandably, these messy realities were left out of the postwar narrative. But what happens when we bring that myth into the present? The myth of the 鈥楤litz spirit鈥� Londoners did come together after the 7/7 bombings 鈥� there were undoubtedly examples of communities and strangers supporting each other and maintaining a sense of resilience that enabled them to continue their lives undeterred. But it was not one single unified message. against British Muslim communities in the weeks after the 2005 attacks exposed cracks in the narrative of national unity. Some used the Blitz spirit to , casting them as Churchillian leaders standing firm against a new fascism in the form of global terrorism. For others, the same figures represented a of British values. They were evoked instead to shame . The Express made its feelings clear when it said: 鈥淚t was throw up time when Blair was compared to Churchill by some commentators. What an insult!鈥� The Blitz spirit also became a weapon in anti-immigration discourse. Some argued that Britain, unlike in 1940, had become a 鈥� compromised by EU human rights laws, welfare handouts and multiculturalism. The underlying message: today鈥檚 London could never be as brave or unified as wartime London. Writing in The Sun, Richard Littlejohn said: 鈥淲ar office memo. Anyone caught fighting on the beaches will be prosecuted for hate crimes.鈥� An article in the Express condemning human rights laws said: 鈥淲hat a good thing these people weren鈥檛 running things when Hitler was doing his worst. Would the second world war have been more easily won if we had spent more time talking about freedom of speech than bombing Nazi Germany?鈥� Multicultural resilience And yet, another narrative emerged 鈥� one that saw London鈥檚 multicultural identity as a strength, not a weakness. Here, the Blitz spirit wasn鈥檛 just a historical relic, but a kind of transcendental force. The city鈥檚 soul, it was said, remained resilient 鈥� passed down , regardless of race, class or religion. For some, this was proof that Britain had evolved and still held fast to its best values. A letter to the Daily Mirror (July 17) invoked the Blitz spirit through a cross-cultural lens: 鈥淐olour, creed and cultures forgotten, black helping white and vice versa鈥� We stood firm in the Blitz and we鈥檒l do so again, going about our business as usual.鈥� The Sunday Times quoted Michael Portillo, who framed London鈥檚 resilience as multicultural continuity: 鈥淔ewer than half the names of those killed on the 7th look Anglo-Saxon鈥� Today鈥檚 Londoners come in all colours and from every cultural background. Yet they have inherited the city鈥檚 historic attitudes of nonchalance, bloody-mindedness and defiance.鈥� The Blitz spirit, as my research revealed, is not a single story. It is a narrative tool used for many different 鈥� often opposing 鈥� purposes. It can bring people together, or be used to divide. It can inspire pride, or be weaponised in fear. National myths don鈥檛 just reflect who we were 鈥� they shape who we think we are. They鈥檙e never neutral. They鈥檙e always curated, always contested. If we want to be genuinely proud of our country 鈥� and we should 鈥� then we also have to be honest about the stories we cling to. We must ask: what鈥檚 left out, and who decides? , Reader in Media and Collective Psychology, This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the . 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