IN one of his first speeches as Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu tackled two very different curses of modern life - BSE and the BNP.

"Britain has become a BSE society," he told the Faiths Forum For Yorkshire conference. "Blame someone else."

He is absolutely right. It can be hard to reconcile the selfless, dutiful Britain of 60 years ago with the selfish, me-first culture rampant today. In the Second World War, every family made extraordinary sacrifices to aid the fight against fascism. Many paid the ultimate price on the battlefields. Those at home worked all day and often performed a secondary role at night, from firewatching to Home Guard patrols.

Households took in evacuated children or refugees. They lived on weekly rations which would barely sustain a modern teenager for a day. Everyone understood their dependence on, and responsibility for, other people and we were a stronger, more coherent society for it.

Contrast that with today. The notion of self-responsibility is openly scoffed at. Too many people believe the world owes them a living. If something goes wrong they are quick to point the finger anywhere but at themselves.

Those who blame their every ill on the State are very often the ones who cannot be bothered to vote for change. As Dr Sentamu said, civic apathy allowed extreme groups like the British National Party to spread their doctrine of hatred.

The notions of duty and altruism are vital for a tolerant, healthy society. If they are allowed to fade, communities will break down - and we shall only have ourselves to blame.

Updated: 11:00 Friday, December 09, 2005