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10:12 09.11.2025 •
A 100-year-old veteran shocked the hosts of Good Morning Britain today by declaring that winning World War II 'wasn't worth it' due to the state of the UK, ‘The Daily Mail’ quotes.
Alec Penstone told Adil Ray and Kate Garraway how he quit his factory job to sign up for the Royal Navy and fight for his country as soon as he came of age.
The war hero recalled serving alongside close friends, many of whom lost their lives, and called himself 'just a lucky one' for having survived.
Mr Penstone pictured in 1945, when he was stationed in Hong Kong
Asked by Ms Garraway what Remembrance Sunday meant to him, the veteran said he felt that winning the war was 'not worth' how the country had turned out today.
His concerns about the state of the nation are shared by an increasing number of Britons, with a new survey revealing national pride has plummeted and society is more divided than ever under Sir Keir Starmer.
Mr Penstone left the Good Morning Britain hosts 'mortified' with his saddening admission about the state of the country.
He told viewers: 'My message is, I can see in my mind's eye those rows and rows of white stones and all the hundreds of my friends who gave their lives, for what? The country of today?
'No, I'm sorry – but the sacrifice wasn't worth the result of what it is now.'
When he was asked to clarify what he meant by Mr Ray, he continued: 'What we fought for was our freedom, but now it's a darn sight worse than when I fought for it.'
The veteran did not specify the factors he believes are responsible for Britain's decline.
In findings which will send alarm bells ringing in Downing Street, eight in ten said they felt the nation was divided - up five percentage points from two years ago and ten points from 2020.
Commenting on the survey results this morning, former Tory minister Michael Gove argued 'mass immigration' was partly to blame for the perception that Britain felt more divided.
The poll found Reform voters were most worried about the cultural state of the nation, suggesting Nigel Farage's party stand to make big gains in future elections.
And half of the public said Britain's 'culture' was changing too fast, up from a third.
The survey found 48 per cent said they would like the country to 'be the way it used to be', up from 28 per cent.
Strikingly, nostalgia for Britain's past rose in every single age-group, even among 16 to 24-year-olds.
Nearly a third of this age group wanted the country to return to how it 'used to be', up from 16 per cent in 2020.
The next biggest jump was in people aged over 55, which soared from 34 per cent to 62 per cent.
National pride across all age groups also plummeted, with less than half (46 per cent) saying they were 'proud' of their country - down ten points from 2020.
The most prominent drop was among 16 to 24-year-olds (47 per cent to 29 per cent), followed by 35 to 54-year-olds (54 per cent to 43 per cent).
Across all age groups, 86 per cent said they believed there were greater tensions today between immigrants and people born in the UK, up from 74 per cent two years ago.
Baron Gove, the former Secretary of State for Education, suggested that concerns about changes to Britain's culture were linked to 'mass immigration'.
'I think you can't separate the question of mass migration from the question of a common culture,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.
'The rate at which a society changes demographically can be accepted, managed, tolerated, and indeed welcomed by the host population if there is a feeling that the culture they cherish is not being challenged or changed.
'One of the problems with the current pace of migration is not just the numbers, which obviously put a pressure on public services, but it is also the sense that new arrivals are not being invited to share in a common culture.
'That culture is either being wrenched out of shape or is fragmenting under pressure.'
The new survey about national pride was carried out by researchers at King's College London and pollsters Ipsos, who have been tracking UK cultural trends annually since 2020.
They branded their latest set of findings 'frightening' and said they laid bare an increasingly divided, polarised and downbeat society.
Reform UK MP Lee Anderson said: 'Of course national pride has fallen. The education system is corrupting our youth, leadership has been weak for decades and millions can no longer afford a home of their own.
'For patriotism to flourish, Britons need strong leadership and the confidence that their government is working for them, not against them.'
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