In the wake of the attacks in Paris and the continuing migration of refugees, this country of ours has become exceptionally tense.

Families and friends are divided in opinion, weighing compassion against caution and with every ISIS threat and innocent life lost, the scales tip back and forth.

All of which has given rise to a disturbing lack of scrutiny. Every day Facebook is flooded with memes: pictures of Winston Churchill grimly staring out at the reader with a caption that reads, 'We shall defend this sceptred isle at any cost and cast out those who take offence.'

Only he didn't say that, no one did. It's a falsehood designed to hijack well-meaning patriotism and capitalise on fear and it's time we have a frank, condescending chat with ourselves.

I'm under no illusion that Britain is impervious to attack but I think this paranoid 'us and them' mantra is getting a little out of hand. No matter the system in place, there will always be those who abuse it, for every safeguard there will be cracks that can be exploited but we need to talk about perception and attitudes.

As a species, we have a knee-jerk reaction of targeting by association. It's a manifestation of frustration and outrage. We can't stop extremists, so we target those who we feel are closely related. Unfortunately, with this culture of misinformation, we mark the wrong individuals because they have dark skin or a name we can't pronounce or facial hair, all under the blanket of 'they're not like me, they must be dangerous.' And this is nothing new; living on an island British people have been displaying this attitude for centuries.

I'm of half-English, half-Irish descent and growing up suffered a fair amount of 'you're not from round here' talk thanks to fear of IRA attacks. Then I moved to Norwich and was subjected to a similar round of 'you're not from round here' jibes because I was from London. At which point the farcical nature of territorial superiority became apparent. Great Britain is an island; no one is really from round here.

There is a company called 23andMe which specialises in home genetic testing. Through a saliva sample they can determine, among other things, where your ancestors originated from. Unsurprisingly, the results tend to show that nationality is really only a matter of dates.

So what makes you inherently British? Your culture, passport, diet, language, the hospital you were born in? If that's true, is it not true for all of us?

We are a nation comprising a rich tapestry of cultures and traditions and most of the things you value and hold dear – Indian tea, Spanish footballers, Scandinavian furniture, American phones, German Christmas trees – probably originate from abroad.

If you're currently reading this, frowning at that remark, might I highlight that without the migration of beaker users from the peninsular we would still be drinking water with our hands. And if you want to go back far enough, our species evolved by crawling out of the sea ('coming over here, taking up our land') so no one really has an automatic right to the ground they live on.

Subsequently, in a time when fanatics are trying to divide us, we should be reminded that we live in a united kingdom and those whom you might perceive to be responsible are just as scared, outraged and horrified as you. 'Let us have no fear of the future. We are a decent lot, the whole nation. Wherever you go you need have no fear' – Winston Churchill.