OPINION: I don't want to be British

It's not an anti-British thing - I don't want to be labelled as any particular nationality.

Earlier today I posed a question on Twitter and Google+:

Do you HAVE to be a nationality?
Is it a technical requirement?

The responses were, pretty much, what I expected.

Yes.

Some, with experience of living in different countries, told me their British passport/nationality made life much easier if there were problems.

So, is travel and identification the only benefit? It seems it may be the case.

I'm not trying to avoid taxation (I'm more than happy to contribute my fair share in whichever territory I happen to be domiciled), and I'm not trying to evade the law (I think it is right that there are laws to protect individuals and groups throughout the world).

It's just I don't want to be labelled as being British (or French, or American, or Chinese,or wherever).

My nationality was an accident of birth. In early April 1965 my mother happened to be in London at the moment I decided it was time to venture into the world. Yes, my mother is British and has, I suspect, never considered changing that. But why, because of choices my mother made before my conception, should I be given a tag of nationality.

One person responding to my post on Google+ claims that I could be free of nationality from birth had my mother had the foresight to to follow in the footsteps of Amundsen and Scott and go to Antarctica.

Even then, I would be expected to chose a nationality and not remain an international neutral

I despise nationality.

I watch international football or rugby or athletics or whatever for the quality of the sport not to cheer on others whose mothers made similar choices to my own.

I refuse to sing the British "National Anthem" - God Save the Queen is an awful dirge asking a non-existent deity for special attention for one person - it has very little to do with the real world or nationhood - but even if it was I'd find it distasteful and unpleasant.

Ultimately, nationality is about prejudice and division. It is the reason we have racists like the BNP and UKIP. It why we have wars (alongside religion) and it is why we have world divided by wealth.

I want us all to live together in peace and harmony, sharing knowledge and resources, and striving for a better future for everyone.

I don't see why I should be forced to be British with all the historical evils that carries.

I want a UN passport.

I want the right to be a citizen of the world.