PROFESSOR Mike Savage, of the University of York sociology department, Matthew Rhodes, of the British Future think-tank, York theatre director Cecily Boys and The Press theatre critic Charles Hutchinson will take part in The Great British Debate at 9pm tomorrow night in the York Theatre Royal Studio.

Chaired by British Future editorial director Rachael Jolley, the panel discussion will follow Old Bomb Theatre Company’s 7.45pm performance of Jim Cartwright’s Bed, a play that focuses on seven elderly people’s fear of a fading sense of national identity.

The 45-minute event has been organised by British Future, a new non-partisan think-tank that focuses on identity and integration. Jolley will introduce the debate and the panellists, who each will give a two-minute introduction to their thoughts on British identity.

The chairman will pose a couple of questions to the panel for discussion before opening up to questions from the audience.

“Questions that will inform the debate include: How British do you feel? Do you juggle multiple identities? Do you feel English and if so why? Are Britons happy having different identities? Is Britain more comfortable with itself in 2012 than in 1989, when Bed was first performed? Who do you define as British/English/Yorkshire icons? Can you be ‘from’ Yorkshire if you weren’t born there?” says Jolley.

British Future’s research, through an Ipsos Mori poll, has shown that 75 per cent of people in Yorkshire and Humberside feel a strong connection to both England and Britain. This compares with 60 per cent in North East and 68 per cent in the North West.

Yorkshire and Humberside registered a strong vote for being British, with 70 per cent saying they “strongly belonged” to Britain, by comparison with 49 per cent in the North East and 59 per cent in the North West.

When asked whether they thought The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee would be good for Britain’s mood, 62 per cent of the Yorkshire and Humberside public said yes; 59 per cent thought the Olympics would boost the nation’s mood.