A very happy St George's Day to you all. Read THIS excellent article by Simon Heffer in today's Telegraph on why England must now claim its rights. We recorded a HEFFER CONFRONTED yesterday on the subject, which I will put in the video box later tonight when it is available. There wasn't a lot of confronting going on!
22 comments:
And a happy St George's day to you too. :-)
God save England !
A 'celebration' of England's national day should have happened years ago. We ALL know why this has been supressed and i would suggest a little too late now. The country is now an ungovernable mess-simple as that: it's the 'Chatsworth Estate' all over, save for a few rural 'escape clumps'. As hinted on Sky News' 'thorough investigation as to what it means to be English/British' it's all about marketing now. The 'support' of an 'England day' (by the Establishment/politicians) is as false as Tony Blair. It will take more than God to save England now!
Wes Thu Hal !
Simon Heffer equates support for the 'Empire' with support for the Union.
Silly and wrong.
Perhaps the reason why St Georges Day is not more joyfully celebrated is because unlike on other national days, St Patrick, St David etc, where they put aside their internal differences to celebrate, in England it seems to be an opportunity for the whingers to come out of the woodwork bemoaning the loss of their "true england".
So put aside the whinging, enjoy a glass of your favourite tipple, grab a takeaway curry (or M&S readymeal if you are posh) and remember to stand up when they are playing the theme tune for Corrie, our true national anthem.
A very Happy St George's Day from this London-dwelling Scot. I hope you choose to celebrate and enjoy it in whatever way you see fit (Morris Dancing?).
But please, please, let's drop this idea of the Scottish subsidy. The government figures, as we all know, show that London receives the highest amount of identifiable public spending relative to tax receipts.
And that's before we start getting into debates over unidentifiable spending (errr, like Whitehall) and oil revenues.
I look forward to the day when perhaps we can start having a grown-up debate about the future of the Union without esoteric debates over identity and economic debates based on dodgy figures.
The fact that there a so many London dwelling Scots probably explains the high level of subsidies.
I certainly hope a few of them shall be returning to their native country after the next election.
Can the tories have a word with Cameron please. He is not doing very well in the Shires.
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/letters-to-the-editor/More-questions-for-David-Cameron.4006176.jp
I ATTENDED the "60 against one" meeting with David Cameron at the Yorkshire Post offices. I was very impressed with Mr Cameron's style and presentation and the way he answered questions without notes.
There was only one thing I did not agree with and found surprising. When a gentleman stated that English taxpayers are helping provide Irish, Welsh and Scottish residents with free healthcare provisions, improved public services and free tuition fees, Mr Cameron said that we should not feed into the grievance culture which says the English are some put-upon minority having a miserable time.
Yes, Mr Cameron we are the United Kingdom but all should be treated the same otherwise the system is unfair, and, yes, many people do feel not only miserable but angry about this state of affairs. I was puzzled, to say, the least, on his stance on this subject.
I see that the starting premise for Heffer's article is a misplaced understanding about the Left's views on patriotism. It is perfectly possible to be a patriot on the left while not supporting the immutable Little Englander vision of the world supported by Heffer and his ilk.
If anyone want's eveidence of this, and perhaps wants to understand what many on tle Left still believe, they need only look at Orwell's Lion and Unicorn essay see http://www.k-1.com/Orwell/site/work/essays/lionunicorn.html
This was of course the essay which John Major (and even Iain Dale) quoted from when talking about old maids biking to Holy Communion etc. But unfortunately as well as putting the Old Maids on bicycles they failed to read to the end of the essay and missed this highly appropriate quotation:
"Patriotism has nothing to do with Conservatism. It is actually the opposite of Conservatism, since it is a devotion to something that is always changing and yet is felt to be mystically the same. It is the bridge between the future and the past."
"What we allegedly did to the Irish." Huh? There is no allegation here - it's a fact of history. Ireland was conquered and the rights of a majority of it's citizens were walked over, their land was handed over to the English & Scottish settler. Why can't people like Heffer accept this period of history? Then again, people like him think having an Empire - invading countries and forcing your way of life on to others was something to be proud of.
That said I do think the English nation needs to stop being expected to apologise for the past. Get over it, show some pride in your nation and ignore those lefties and their constant self flagellation.
Celebrate your nation - like the Scots, Welsh and Irish do!
Happy St. George's Day, should it be a Bank Holiday?
Are these top ten unwritten political memoirs ever going to appear?
Poor old Heffer - what a load of bollocks. My national flag is the Union Flag and I would be happy to fly it on our National Day (if we had one). You cannot invent heritage or tradition and in England we just don't have a tradition like the Scots and the Welsh to celebrate our patron saint’s day. If people want to try and create that tradition that's fine by me – it’s all fairly harmless. What is not harmless is when people, like Heffer, equate asserting their Englishness with contempt for the Union. The so-called “rise of English national consciousness” which Heffer fantasises about is a figment of his imagination – except amongst other right-wingers who think it is suddenly smart to assert their English nationalism. I’m proud of being English – but I’m even more proud of being British and my flag is not that of St George (except when England play rugby or football or cricket) but the Union Flag. Rule Brittania!
This is not a connected thread, but I have thought - if all you bloggers have links to each others' recommended blogs, but none of the BBC bloggers recommnend anyone else; why do you all recommend the Beeb?
"Ireland was conquered and the rights of a majority of it's citizens were walked over": the majority of the Irish were sub-serfs and slaves when the Normans pitched up. Get a grip!
I think the time to claim our rights would be the time when a majority of Englishmen and women are able to give the correct answer to the question "When is St. George's day?" Regrettably I don't believe this is currently possible.
Travis Bickle:
"The fact that there are so many London dwelling Scots probably explains the high level of subsidies.
I certainly hope a few of them shall be returning to their native country after the next election."
I assume that's a veiled reference to MPs (unless you're a racist making a blunt 'Scots go home' comment).
Unfortunately for you, if any Scottish MPs return home to Scotland after losing their seat, they'll be replaced by...another Scottish MP from the same constituency. Duh.
You lot really do seem to think that the Scottish block of 59 MPs controls Westminster, don't you? They'd have to be remarkably bright and cunning (most of them are neither) to run the national parliament with less than 8% of the seats. Stop panicking.
Why does Heffer associate unpatriotic acts with 'Leftists'?
This is BNP talk of which I am busily putting through the political shredder in Stoke.
Make your point, Simon, by all means, but please do not compare this patriot with an act of treason.
I'm Labour, I'm proud of that, and I reject your notion of non- Englishness.
You only have to look around the political world and you'll see not one single Tory fighting the BNP.
Why is this? Is it because you are more English than I, or is it that I defend my England more than you do?
I'm on the front line, Simon, and there's plenty of room for fellow patriots.
Gary George Elsby
Ok, I made the George bit up, but you get the picture.
Happy St George's day Ian
Speech of King Henry V - before the walls of Harfleur
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour’d rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let it pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o’erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O’erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill’d with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath, and bend up every spirit
To his full height! On, on, you noblest English!
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof;
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought,
And sheath’d their swords for lack of argument.
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call’d fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeomen,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot:
Follow your spirit; and, upon this charge
Cry ‘God for Harry! England and Saint George!
_________________
Scotland is not subsidised.
In the 1970's Scotland was told it was subsidised by the rest of the UK. A recent freedom of information paper showed this to be a lie. Why would the civil service not lue again. I cannot believe that Scotland is subsidised by the rest of the UK. Fool me one shame on you fool me twice shame on me (and you).
We had a 300% increase on the number of people signing our petition on 23 April 2008, compared with 2007 (www.stgeorgesholiday.com). There is a growing hunger for a national day of celebration on St Georges Day.
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