Being British

I'v been reading a recently published book describing the torment of a girl forced into marriage by her parents to an older man living in a society halfway around the world and finding the experience deeply traumatising.
There are a number of books written on similar stories of girls who are forced to visit a foreign country with a person they trust, their parent, to find that a negotiation has gone on to hand over their daughter to someone she had never, met for marriage.
This custom, this tradition is so alien to what we in this country believe in we have to ask the question what does it mean to be British.
The term which used to be understood by the world at large is not always sympathetic.
The term "perfidious Albion" comes to mind when the French remember occasions when we have gone back on our word. The image of the 'larger lout' parading around the the towns in some sun kissed places does not make me particularly proud to carry the nomenclature British but this is far far and away removed from selling my daughter to the highest bidder !!
How do we assimilate such disparity in what should be a country of similar attitudes towards humanity at large. We don't after all condone chopping off the hand that was used to steal.
If your attitude towards your daughter is to see her as a "commodity" used in tying cultural strings between families, if that is acceptable, is this acceptability compliant with being British.
Of course we have national born foreigners who have become British and fully established here with, as is often the case, their 'offspring' accepting to a larger or lesser degree the traditions of their parents. Would we feel that "our" concept of Britishness is the same as theirs.
If not we have reached a dangerous moment when short of becoming schizophrenic we have to decide what is right and what is wrong and if deemed wrong we have to outlaw it and take a view on whether we should withdraw their claim to being British.
As usual we will dither around the issue and kick the tin up the road until the numbers decide.
Multiculturalism is an "ideal" but not always attainable. When we have no rules other than common law, no written Constitution to say what our values mean and where the boundaries lie. We need clear guidelines what being British means and if it upsets people in this country so be it. Better to have clarity than this hotchpotch of assimilating at all costs to avoid conflict. The conflict is there but at the moment it's underground, simmering with mistrust and resentment. The strength that our political establishment has to insists that everyone conform to British standards (and not be side tracked by people who question what being British means).
If you disagree you must return to your home and the culture you desire or, in the case of people born here, we must insist that they conform to norms of the country they live in or leave !!!