Jack Straw announced this morning on Radio 4 that emergency legislation would be introduced to permit anonymous witnesses in criminal trials, following the Law Lords' sending back of a case to the Appeal Court in which anonymous witnesses were used.

In 2006, Gordon Brown asked the Fabian New Year Conference: "What is the British equivalent of the US fourth of July, or even the French 14th of July? ... What is our equivalent for a national celebration of who we are and what we stand for?" He said he had in mind giving the country a new public holiday. 2008 should be the year to make it happen, And why not choose the birthday of the NHS to celebrate this great symbol of our shared values?

The influential think tank ippr is suggesting that Gordon Brown establish a British national day as an extra bank holiday on the Monday immediately after Remembrance Sunday in November.

Blair's thoughtful speech yesterday highlighted - for me at least - the reality that building a positive national identity matters more than it has done in the past, and will matter more still in the future. I think it is true to argue that discussion about `British identity' has been a no-go area for liberal and left-of-centre politicians. What Blair argued for yesterday was the need for an inclusive British identity that can meet our needs in the 21st century. The problem however is that most attempts to do so have started from the assumption that there is a real `core Britishness' that we need to discover, articulate and require everyone - particularly newer communities - to share. There are real difficulties with this for all those that espouse a progressive agenda. Last year John Denham, as part of a Fabian Society debate, argued that historical Britishness contains strong strands of racism, exploitation and class division. He suggested that the other problem with what he called `discovered Britishness' is that is seems to place all the obligation to change on the newer communities and none on the majority.

The truth is that while incomers will always have the greatest adjustment to make, those of us who grew up in a Britain that was overwhelmingly white and confident in its imperial history need to know and understand that that Britain has gone for ever.

The question can not be who we are but who we want to be.