It’s increasingly unfashionable in some circles to celebrate your Britishness in England. A significant section of the Conservative Party are English Nationalists who think that it is smart to deny their Britishness - to his credit David Cameron is not one of them and he is on record as a supporter of the Union. The incipient English nationalism in some quarters is in part a response what is seen as and over-Scottishness in our governance in recent times; Gordon Brown is, of course, a Scot and the Scots educated Tony Blair was more Scottish than he often admitted. The existence of a Scottish Parliament and the fact that Scottish MPs in Westminster can vote on purely English matters is further fuel to the English Nationalist fire.
In Beijing it has been the Union Flag that has been flying high as the British team hauls in medal after medal. There are English, Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish in the team and the successes that they have had are truly British successes. I have yet to see a Scottish flag - even when the British competitor is from north of the border. This is a team united in its endeavours and united in its commitment. And the national anthem and the Union Flags celebrate British success - the national fervour is a truly British fervour, and commendable it is as well.
I am English and have never had a problem in celebrating my Englishness as well as my Britishness, and I see no conflict between the two. Our nation is the British nation - it has a proud history and I hope a proud future. Those who argue for the break up of the United Kingdom into its component parts deny this history and revert to an insularity that demeans them. As we watch the continuing British success in the Olympic Games I hope that all of us can relish this success and realise that it is symbolic of something bigger - a proper definition of who we are and what we stand for.
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16 users commented in " British Olympic triumphs should embarrass the petty English Nationalists "
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The reason you won’t have seen the the home nations flags in Beijing is that the Chinese government has banned all non competing countries flags - ostensibly to to stop the flag of occupied Tibet being seen anywhere. But the Cross of St George and Saltire etc have been banned too.
The British Government oppresses England and the English. Not only is there the democratic deficit you mention but don’t seem to find important but there is also the financial deficit that values an English life as being £1500 per year cheaper than a Scottish life.
Go and read the Scottish Claim of Right as signed by “British” PM Gordon Brown and you’ll start to see why so many English are turning our backs on your so called “Union”
English taxes for England,
English law for England,
Home rule for England.
There’s nothing petty about English nationalism old son - it’s a just cause.
The Scots want out and increasingly the English do to - I live for the day.
Wydrtimes
Why the hyperbole? The Scots don’t “want out”.
Opinion polls show fairly consistently that when presented with the broad range of constitutional options (abandon devolution, the status quo, greater devolution, independence) only about 20% to 25% of people in Scotland favour full independence.
Why pick on the English, it is the Scots and Welsh who have been shouting about independence not the English.
The English merely want an English Assembly in line with the Scottish, Welsh and NI Assemblies.
If anything is petty it’s the sectarianism which prevails in parts of Scotland and in NI.
I think it is healthy that the English start to question the union. We have been bombed and murdered on our own streets by our fellow britons,we have our houses burned down in Wales,assaulted for waving the English flag in Scotland and ethnically cleansed from our own towns and cities by unionist mp’s. Unionist mp’s have wiped England off the map and they refuse to even say the word in public.For all that we are petty English Nationalists or as Cameron calls us “sour little Englanders”. No thanks, home rule for England.
further to that, the bbc has had no problem describing medal winners as Welsh Scottish or Northern Irish, English medal winners are the british according to the beeb.
Sure, and I’ll start celebrating Britishness again when the British abolish the Barnett Rules
( and reimburse England the £80 or so billion the celts have had out of England over the last 30 years + interest)
and when England gets a national parliament of our own to look after English and not British interests -just like the British gave Scotland , remember!
the English might then accept continuing to be a self ruling country within a federal British United Kingdom which for all,outward purposes eg the Olympics could fly the British flag.
Don’t be surprised though that until this happens the English go a bit cold on “Britishness”.
Maybe when the `Scotland only`benefits to this union change, will the discriminated against English people change,we are heartily sick of pathetic journalism like this,perhaps this piece should have been directed at Scotland,that just happens to be well on its way to independence,i wonder what the SNP think of the British flag?We English want our own parliament to shout the odds for us,just like the Scots,maybe when we have a newspaper called the `Englishman`and a party called the ENP will this twaddle have any credence.
Oh Dear. Oh Dear. The previous commentors have said it all really. This is just the usual Unionist guff clutching at straws. After the Olympics have finished there will still be asymetric devolution, health apartheid, the Barnet formula and the West Lothian Question. Change is in the air Paddy, get with the programme. I have never heard of democratic accountability being described as petty before!!
I’ve seen a Scottish flag, even though they are banned.
Wouldn’t this article have been more fitting if it’s title had been “British Olympic triumphs should embarrass the petty Scottish Nationalists”, or is it just English nationalists that are “petty”.
I believe the SNP Government want their own Olympic team. How petty of British nationalists to want to prevent them from competing for Scotland.
Why don’t you have a go at the Scots and Welsh who refuse to celebrate their Britishness? They have been refusing Britishness for centuries. Now that the English refuse Britishness, you finally have a problem? You are another stupid Unionist who is needs to pull his head out. The artificial UK is finished! England has been a nation for over a 1000yrs and we will be a self governing nation once again. Death to the UK! Long live England!
English nationalism = bad
Scots/Welsh Irish nationalism = good
Why has no one ever expressed this sentiment before? Oh wait, they have, ad nauseum. YAWN!
Errr, I have seen several Scots and Welsh flags being waved. When cyclist Chris Hoy won the first of his 3 gold medals, there were 3 4′x3′ Saltires amongst the British section of the crowd…… Oh, and also forgot, Hoy’s very own parents unfurled their home made banner which proclaimed ‘Chris Hoy, the real McCoy’. Either side of which were a couple of painted on Saltires…not a Union flag in sight…
Cut to the Mum and Dad of Welsh road cyclist
Nicola Cooke after she had won the women’s bike race. There they were looking dead pleased because their daughter had done their country proud. I knew that because the flags they had in their hands were Welsh red dragon flags.
Nevermind, we will be able to show our appreciation when they all come back from China - I understand Boris has organised a grand British procession, where all the British athletes will parade through London… But wait!After the grand parade, The Scottish Government,the Welsh and the Northern Irish Assemblies have also arranged to have grand
parades through their own capital cities. Those parades will not celebrate their Britishness, they will celebrate their Scots, Welsh and Irishness..
So where is the English parade, with English athletes being lauded and feted like their Scots, Welsh and Irish comrades?
Answer? Nowhere. Because for our constituent country to be able to celebrate our athletics success as English athletes and not default British ones would mean that there would have to be a recognition that England was a country in its own right - on a par with Scotland and Wales - it is not. For us to have our own English parade of success would mean that our own English First Minister would proclaim how proud he was at the fantastic success of the English effort within the British team, just like Salmond has said about the Scots contingent. But that could never happen could it? For that to happen we would hve to have our own English First Minister - on a par with the Scottish model. And to have that, we would have to have our own English Government, again similar to the Scots model…
Talk about flying piggies?
But, hey never mind, our English athletes will just have to settle for second place silver…. tea with Scottish Gordon at number 10.
And so to 2012.
Hey guess what, we’ll be entering a ‘British’ footy team - but as the Welsh, Scots and NI footy administrations have all said their national players will not take part, that just leaves it to the lapdog FA (what DO those letters stand for?) to step forward and obey Gordon’s patriotic plea. Some bright spark at a Union Flag focus group thought it would be a good wheeze to get Sir Alex Ferguson to manage the team of 11 Englishmen - and thereby give that team more of a British credibility….. Eh up, spanner in the works time as Sir Alex has declared that he don’t want the gig!
Looks like ‘PLAN B’ then? They’ll be using a cardboard of Scot Sir Matt Busby as manager. He will have as his assistant the ashes of Sir Harry Seacombe. The post of the psychology guru will be taken by Dr Ian Paisley, which will ensure that team is 100% British.
It has also been rumoured that the team strip will have a little bit of tartan piping on the sleeves, and be made from pure Welsh wool. The lads halftime orange will be given the boot in favour of a pint of Guinness and a knees up…
The players have been warned that any goal celebrations must not in any way shape or form contain any Morris Dancing or shouts of ‘hey nonny-nonny’ - as these seditious acts are
considered to be anti British.
Britishness, don’t ya just love it?
Individual medals won by nation were:
England = 24,
Wales = 3,
Scotland = 2
and British Citizens = 2.
As a petty English nationalist I am not embarrassed at all by our English athletes achievements, I am actually very proud.
I was embarrassed by the BBC reporting when an athlete was Scottish and Welsh, and would only report English athletes as British.
Sorry the above numbers were only for Gold medals won.
The only part of these islands which is enjoying total self-governance is the Republic of Ireland. And boy do they enjoy it. Let’s have some of that!
We stand by and watch. unable to express our own,Anglo-Saxon identity, for fear of offending any other citizen,of these,British Isles, including those,who claim to be English,in spite of having a cultural identity,in complete contrast, with the tribal heritage,of the true.Our Celtic neighbours,quite rightly, and proudly display their love,and passion for their countries.Their respective countries, have not been overrun by foreigners.they are predominately,native, Scots,Irish and Welsh.Therefore, they feel at ease,and at liberty to express their own identity, as one people.Immigration,it is said, enriches a country.Somali`s,Bangladeshi`s,Indians,Pakistanies,West Indians,and countless others,have come to the land of the English.Many,taking the fastest route to citizenship,by breeding.wether, breeding with an English girl,carried away with the tall dark and handsome theory,or breeding with their own.They are outbreeding the native English.Our children, go to schools, where the dominant culture is not English.They are not even taught their own history.Is it any wonder,when our language,culture,our country has been so overrun by people claiming, British citizenship.That as a people.Equally passionate about our identity, our own culture.Our own history.That we no longer want any part, of that,Great British thing.Because, as a people, in our own right.We era no longer part of it.
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