Where did England disappear to?

dorayakii

England is the oldest nation-state in Europe. It is a pround and historic nation that is often buried under a "British" identity by the UK government. Within the European Unon, Scotland and Wales are treated as regional entities, yet England is broken up into 6 regions and is not acknowledged as an entity in itself. It's most as if the government is afraid of saying the words "England" or identifying with the English nationality.

I once heard an American celebrity, when talking about the movie "Braveheart", say: "The Scottish were long oppressed by the British", without batting an eyelid! The Scottish ARE British! The Kingdom of Great Britain founded in 1707 was a union of England and Scotland.

The Americans often overuse this word "British" in contexts where is doesn't make sense. If the English themselves don't even know who they are, how can the Americans?

The other nations of the United Kingdom all have devolved parliaments or assemblies, yet England does not. The West Lothian question deals with the paradox that the Parliament for the whole UK can decide on English matters, but not on certain Scottish or Welsh matters.

How ironic then that England, the originator of the modern two-tier parliamentary system copied by every other western nation, is unique in being denied even the most basic of democratic rights.

England is also denied its own national anthem. "God Save the Queen" is a royal anthem which not only represents the UK as a whole, but the symbolic "crowns" of Canada, Australia and other countries where the British monarch is the head of state. In addition, St Patrick's Day gets more official support than England's own patron saint's day, St George! Even though the great bard William Shakespeare's birthday falls of the same day, 23 April, it is still ignored, despite having an alternative cultural significance apart from nationalism.

Why is it that England and Englishness and even the flag of St George are often associated with racist groups or football hooliganism?

Do you think that England is disenfranchised?

Is there a party that stands for English autonomy that does not want total withdrawal from the EU? Is there such a party that does not have slightly xenophobic and strong homophobic tendencies?

Is there something intrinsically right-wing, xenophobic or homophobic about loving England and being English? Or is it just a coincidence that the only parties that I can see who promote it seem to be that way inclined? (eg. English Democrats, English Independence Party)

Does anyone else see a problem here or am I concerned about nothing?

cantleave

Wait for a big sporting event such as the Football World Cup, there is no mention of a United Kingdom then.........

IN-GER-LUND, IN-GER-LUND, IN-GER-LUND!!!!!!!!

CL (Man from England)

transhuman68

And can you still chase them away with a bar of soap?

dorayakii

Exactly. Just football. It's as if football is the only thing that keeps the English identity alive...

aligot ripounsous

Do you think that England is disenfranchised?

All that would never have happened had Englang remained a French colony

THE GLADIATOR

dorayakii You are absolutely right. Even the word Britain is no longer used much. When I fill out a form, I am asked if I am from the UK.

If you look at an electoral map of Britain most of of it is blue with conservative seats. All of Scotland and Wales is red and yellow. The reason that Britain has not achieved a majority conservative win is due to the fact that Scotland, Wales & Ireland vote against conservatives. They are part of Britain and stop England having the government that the majority of the English want.

Scotland has been happy to imposed its will on English people for the last eleven years. Scotland justifies this by claiming to be British, despite - amazingly having their own parliament which decides on its own affairs.

Now because Conservatives have won more seats they are complaining. Scotland has said Conservatives have no mandate to govern the Scottish people because they did not vote for them. Suddenly Scotland is no longer British and objects to sharing a government, despite the last two Prime ministers, Blair & Brown being Scottish. They are British when it benefits them to be and Scottish when it suits them.

We should separate England and Scotland. We can have the government we want and Scotland can manage on their own. Of course the millions of pounds that England subsidises Scotland with would have to stop too. It can go towards clearing our national debt, or do they view it as English debt?

Didn't we get all this from the JWs? No part of the world when it suits them but very much a part of it when benefits are available.

cofty

The English make up the vast majority of the UK and its government, why on earth would it need its own parliament? There is a case for saying that Scottish MPs should not vote in matters pertaining only to England but that hardly makes the English a poor oppressed minority does it?

Gladiator - The nationality of the PM or senior politicians in the UK government is of no relevance, they are Brits not Scots when they serve the country. Stop wingeing and find an Englishman or woman who can do the job. You have almost managed to elect an English public schoolboy twit, lets see how he gets on. Of course Scotland and Wales should have measure of say in their own affairs, why shouldn't they? Are you begrudging us devolution now? Do you think "one size fits all" solutions are the best way forward?

Your right though, English people have not worked out how to celebrate their national identity without resorting to outdated attitudes of imperialism and xenophobia, but that's not our fault. Let us know when you solve that one.

THE GLADIATOR

You have conveniently missed the point I was making about Scotland's claim to independence when it suits them to be Scottish and being a part of Britain when it benefits them.

Instead you refer to the leader of the Conservative party as an 'English public schoolboy twit.' And accuse the English of having 'outdated attitudes of imperialism and xenophobia.'

Outdated? Whatever happend to Hadrian's Wall? We need it back!

Freedom Fighter

Think about the reasons that Scotland is 'red'. The Thatcher government destroyed our major industries and left many skilled people without employment. People do not forget these things and it inevitably shapes how the population will vote.

The Scottish parliament powers are still fundamentally limited, the power devolved is still very much peripheral and we retain the same core systems as the rest of the UK. You keep saying 'Scotland has said' - have you conducted a survey amongst all of the population? Based on this your statements are gross generalisations and cannot claim to be representative.

I'm quite happy that paying my taxes will benefit all UK citizens - independance does not have a strong support in Scotland as the election results show.

blondie

Probably the same reason that many people outside the US call us "Americans" when the term applies to everyone living on the North and South AMERICAN continents.

Would the following be more correct

citizens of the US

United Statesans

etc.

Where did England disappear to?

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