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| SLG |
Call Yourself British!?Interesting stuff in the Telegraph today. A campaign to "Call Yourself British"! And apparently "we love Britain" and a "large majority English voters" back the Union! I'm not quite sure that 62% in favour of the Union is as large as a majority as they are implying.There are some interesting results in their poll. John Curtice reports the results with a very pro-Union slant. For me, the most interesting result for the immediate future is regarding and English Parliament and English votes on English issues. 35% support for an English Parliament of some sort and only 32% favouring the status quo. 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/m...xml=/news/2007/12/09/npoll109.xml Via the CEP http://thecep.org.uk/news/?p=346 I don't think there's anything too surprising in the results, I'm more interested in the tone the Telegraph is taking. They obviously feel that there is enough of a threat that they need to set up this Britishness campaign. I find it quite incredible that a newspaper like the Telegraph is taking such a base nationalist stance. It seems similar to the "Scots not Brits" stance of the more nationalist Scots that I'm sure Unionists condemn. Could you imagine the Scotsman or Herald leading with the headline "Scots not Brits!"? Will any of the Unionists here be backing this campaign? And is encouraging British nationalism in this way (similar to what we've seen from Gordon Brown) the only way to save the Union? |
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| Aventinian |
Re: Call Yourself British!?
Eh? It seems from that poll you quote that only 15% are opposed to the Union in England...
I'm not surprised. The status quo is awful.
It's an interesting question. In some ways, I think the political situation has become confused with the (earlier) identity situation. Even before this year and the Scottish elections etc, there was a very odd situation with British nationality where it seemed rather fashionable to cynically chisel away at it (not in favour of more local identities, just generally) - then followed by the great 'Britishness' debate. Apparently we did not know what being British meant any more - I can't say I've ever had that problem in any measure. I suppose a bit of reBritishisation is the inevitable cultural result of such soul searching. Politically, I don't think encouraging British nationalism is the best way of protecting the Union, but it is probably the easiest if that protection is your sole intent. |
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| SLG |
Re: Call Yourself British!?
Not everyone who doesn't oppose the Union favours it. |
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| garye |
Re: Call Yourself British!?
Was reading the stuff in the Telegraph today. Funnily enough they singularly failed to mention the fact that all three Unionist powers at Holyrood now agree on the need for more powers. I love the comments section. Going by that Middle England is turning against the Union and the Torygraph is pissing in to the wind. Oh and if 60% want anything from English Votes through an English Parliament to full indepenence for England then the gemme is indeed a bogey. |
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| SLG |
Aye, a bit like the Scotsman, it's clear that many of their readers aren't quite as motivated by Britishness (in an inclusive sense) as the editorial staff. | ||||||
| garye |
Their big idea today is to have a new "British" History Museum. It'll cost between £50 and £100 million, it's to be in London and....
Says it all really |
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| Aventinian |
Re: Call Yourself British!?
If you think "Middle England" writes in these newspaper website comments sections, you are very much mistaken. As with the Scotsman and the Herald, the Telegraph's comments section is pretty much overrun by the sort of nutters you'd probably cross the street to avoid in real life. |
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| RadgeJougal |
Re: Call Yourself British!?
That's unfair. All they want is a hug. |
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| SLG |
Re: Call Yourself British!?
I think real life is full of nutters as well. Obviously the people posting on these sites are people with a stronger interest in current affairs and politics than the average punter - but I think it does tell a story. I actually find it totally amazing just how dominated these boards are by SNP supporters. Even taking into account the fact that people with these views might be more likely to actively give their comments, it is (or should be) out of all proportion. A big part of it surely must be the often Unionist angle that is taken in the original articles - there is a stong feeling that needs to be addressed via public comments. What we don't have, is a previous time where support for Labour was much greater to compare. If these comments were available 10 years ago, would they have been full of Labour supporters complaining about the Tories or would they still have been full of SNP supporters? I think the former. |
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| Pip |
There's a little bit of a pendulum swing in this. Resurgent Englishness has had its honeymoon period, now some people are talking about Britain again. The Torygraph played along for a bit (sometimes pro-English, mostly anti-Scottish nationslist), but they'll always be the paper that says the sun never sets.
England and English identity force people to confront all sorts of issues that can be dishonestly silenced by the all-smothering embrace of Brittery. It doesn't change what people are. There are lessons to be learned here for English nationalists, (not least from the triumphs and setbacks of our Scottish neighbors). |
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