Tolerating the intolerable::Fundamental British values

The 11 September 2001 attacks in the USA and the 7 July 2005 bombings in London changed the internal and external politics of the UK. One impact was the development of the UK’s first comprehensive counter terrorism strategy, CONTEST, in 2003. This strategy contains four key areas: Pursue, Prevent, Protect, Prepare (HO, 2011). The Prevent aspect of the strategy stated that fundamental British values (FBVs) are ‘democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs’ (HO, 2011, p. 107). These values were subsequently integrated into the Teachers’ Standards in 2012 without any substantial consultation with key stakeholders. This chapter critically examines FBVs (Lander, 2016; Yildiz, 2021) through an anti-racist and anti-imperialist lens. The authors explore the ontology of FBVs and highlight the problematic aspects of the concept. They argue that FBVs have been employed to marginalise and criminalise young people, particularly those from minority and Muslim backgrounds, and they call for educators to collectively resist the promotion of these values.<br/>