Good news may once again be rather slim pickings in Labour’s Britain, but here at the Conservative Post we refuse to stop looking for it.
Because beneath the gloom, the economic warnings, the political chaos and the seemingly endless stream of depressing headlines from Westminster, something rather important is still happening.
Britain is still Britain. Britain is still great!
Our athletes are still winning. Our Armed Forces are still the finest in the world. Our scientists, entrepreneurs and creators are still innovating. Our ancient institutions are still producing remarkable people. And ordinary Britons are still demonstrating the courage, determination and stubborn refusal to give up that have carried this country through far darker chapters than the one we find ourselves living through today.
So, once again, we have gone hunting for the stories that deserve to be celebrated, the stories that remind us that while governments come and governments go, the character, ingenuity and spirit of the British people endure.
And this week, despite everything, there have been some crackers.
Perhaps the most consequential story came from Parliament, where MPs voted by 286 to 270 to reject the latest attempt to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was defeated after five hours of debate, with concerns raised about safeguards, disability rights, the readiness of the NHS and the protection of vulnerable people. MPs on both sides of the argument spoke movingly and, significantly, opposition crossed party lines. Whatever one’s personal view on this profoundly difficult moral question, Parliament did what Parliament is supposed to do, scrutinised a life and death proposal and allowed MPs a free and serious debate before reaching a decision.
There was another reminder of the institutions that have helped make this country respected around the world at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
The Sovereign’s Parade saw 238 Officer Cadets from Britain and 31 partner nations complete 44 weeks of demanding training and receive His Majesty The King’s Commission. Among them were the first Finnish officer to commission from Sandhurst, the first French officer to complete the full Commissioning Course and the first female Officer Cadet to perform the ceremonial piping duty at the parade.
There is something magnificently British about Sandhurst. Tradition without stagnation, discipline without swagger, history combined with a determination to prepare the next generation for whatever may come.
At a time when the world is becoming considerably more dangerous, those young officers are taking on responsibilities that should command the respect of every one of us. The politicians may dither, but the men and women who actually defend this country continue to train, serve and stand ready.
And the Royal Air Force has been demonstrating exactly that.
This week RAF crews from 70 Squadron were in Poland, working alongside Polish counterparts to sharpen NATO’s ability to operate under difficult conditions. Flying the formidable Atlas C1 A400M, British personnel practised tactical low-level flying, temporary runway operations, aerial resupply and the movement of troops, supplies and vehicles, including the use of an austere grass airstrip. The training is designed to ensure allied aircraft can keep operating even when conventional bases are threatened or unavailable.
It is a timely reminder that Britain still matters enormously to the defence of Europe. Our servicemen and women are not merely flying the flag, they are providing expertise, capability and leadership to the most important military alliance in the free world.
Another victory this week came not on a battlefield or sporting arena, but in a courtroom.
Seventy-two-year-old Christian evangelist Richard Johnson was acquitted after being prosecuted for distributing an evangelical Gospel tract in Soho. The court heard arguments surrounding the area’s status as an LGBT “safe space”, but ultimately concluded that the prosecution had not established all the elements required for the public order offence. A defence costs order was also granted.
Whatever anybody thinks of Mr Johnson’s religious beliefs or the contents of the tract, the principle at stake matters enormously. Freedom of speech means very little if it protects only opinions everybody already likes. A genuinely free country must be capable of tolerating peaceful views that some people find objectionable, uncomfortable or even offensive.
That principle is older and bigger than any passing political fashion, and its survival is something worth celebrating.
Britain’s intellectual firepower has also received a welcome boost this week, with Research England unveiling £19.75 million for new partnerships between universities, businesses and innovation organisations.
The Collaboration for a Sustainable Future programme will support projects ranging from £10,000 to £5 million, encouraging universities to pool expertise, share resources, reduce costs and build partnerships capable of strengthening regional economies. Of the total package, £15 million is earmarked for new cross-UK innovation partnerships.
For all the fashionable pessimism about this country, Britain remains home to some of the finest universities, researchers and scientific minds anywhere on Earth. Connecting that intellectual capital more effectively with enterprise and industry is exactly the sort of thing Britain needs if we are to turn brilliant ideas into jobs, businesses, exports and prosperity.
The same is true of our creative industries.
Britain has spent centuries exporting imagination to the world, through literature, music, theatre, film, television, advertising, design and, increasingly, digital technology. This week brought encouraging news for the next generation of British creative pioneers with Innovate UK’s Next Wave programme, designed to help ambitious “createch” companies scale up and compete internationally.
The programme follows a £10 million pilot which attracted around 700 applications and will focus on areas including film and television, video games, music, performing and visual arts, advertising and marketing. The ambition is eventually to unlock more than £300 million in private investment and help build a new generation of major British creative businesses. Britain’s creative industries already generate around £145 billion a year in economic value.
That is the Britain we should be talking about more often.
Not a tired country managing its decline, but an inventive country bursting with people who want to build, create, perform, discover and sell their ideas to the world.
And then, of course, there are our athletes. What a week it has been again for British athletes.
Erin McNeice made history by becoming the first British woman to win the European Lead climbing title, taking gold in Laval, France. The 21-year-old topped the final route with just one second remaining, another extraordinary achievement from an athlete who finished fifth at the Paris Olympics and went on to become the first British female climber to win the overall IFSC World Cup Lead title.
One second. That is the difference between wondering what might have been and standing on top of Europe with a gold medal around your neck.
It takes years of training, sacrifice, bruises, setbacks and determination to produce a moment like that. McNeice is part of a generation of British sportswomen showing the world exactly what they are capable of, and we could not be prouder.
Then, as if one spectacular British sporting victory were not enough, Georgia Taylor-Brown produced another.
The British triathlon star stormed to victory at the World Triathlon Championship Series race in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic, her first WTCS victory in three years. And she did it the hard way.
In treacherous rain, on slick roads and a course that produced numerous crashes and non-finishes, Taylor-Brown kept her nerve, broke clear with the leaders on the bike and then unleashed the running ability that has made her one of Britain’s great modern triathletes. She crossed the line 36 seconds ahead of American Taylor Spivey, completing the 1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10km run in two hours, three minutes and five seconds.
Three years after her last Series victory, she was back on top. That is resilience. That is determination. And that is Great Britain. So yes, we know things feel bleak at times.
We know many readers look at the direction of the country and wonder what on earth has happened to it. We see a Labour government stumbling from one controversy to another, businesses warning about investment and jobs, taxpayers being squeezed, our standing abroad being tested and too many politicians seemingly embarrassed by the very idea of putting Britain first.
But governments are temporary. Britain is not.
The politicians occupying Downing Street today do not own this country. They are merely its temporary custodians. Britain belongs to its people, to the generations who built it, to those living and working here today and to the children who will inherit it tomorrow.
That is why we will continue bringing you Great British News every week, even when we have to dig a little harder to find it.
Because pessimism cannot be allowed to become patriotism’s default setting. Look beyond Westminster and you will find another Britain entirely.
You will find young officers marching out of Sandhurst ready to serve their King and country. You will find RAF crews training alongside our allies to defend Europe. You will find researchers pushing at the boundaries of human knowledge, entrepreneurs building the companies of tomorrow, creative minds producing things the world wants to watch, hear, play and experience.
You will find Erin McNeice clinging to a climbing wall with seconds remaining and making history.
You will find Georgia Taylor-Brown powering through the rain and reminding the world that British champions do not disappear simply because they have had a difficult few years.
And you will find millions upon millions of decent, hardworking, patriotic people who have not given up on this country and never will.
So stay strong. This awful period will not last forever.
The patriotic centre-right may be bruised and divided today, but people who believe in Britain are organising, rebuilding and finding one another again. There will come a day when a Conservative government, or a wider patriotic movement of the Right, once again has the opportunity to put things right. When that moment comes, the task will be enormous, restoring confidence, rewarding enterprise, defending our borders, rebuilding our Armed Forces, protecting liberty and making Britain a country that believes in itself again.
Until then, we keep going. We celebrate every medal. We applaud every breakthrough. We salute every young man and woman who chooses to serve.
We champion every British entrepreneur willing to take a risk, every scientist determined to discover something new and every citizen prepared to stand up for the freedoms generations before us fought to preserve.
Because Britain is so much greater than the government of the day.
We have endured worse. We have overcome worse. And we will rise again.
Stay strong, keep the faith, keep flying the flag.
Great Britain is still great.
Here are our best-read and most shared positive stories from this week (7 – 13 September 2026):
By Claire Bullivant
For last week’s Great British News (31 August – 6 September 2026) click here.
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