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England: A uniquely British muddled mess
An interesting insight from former diplomat David Frost, writing in the Telegraph. [The UK], we claimed, was uniquely capable of absorbing migrants from all round the world, for they could take the political, civic, identity of Britain/UK, but without having to buy into the full cultural identity, too, unlike those benighted unitary states on the…
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Wes Streeting on Nationalism vs Patriotism
Earlier today Wes Streeting delivered his resignation speech in Parliament. His thoughts on nationalism and patriotism are worth noting. I left the Government because we are in the fight of our lives against nationalism, and it is a fight that we are currently losing. Unless we change course, we risk handing the keys of No.…
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Clarity of geographic scope in messaging
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry found that UK Government announcements frequently failed to clarify whether lockdown rules and health measures applied across all four nations or were restricted to England alone. This lack of geographic clarity caused widespread public confusion throughout the pandemic. The UK Covid Inquiry had a section on Clarity of Geographic Scope in…
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Andy Burnham, King in the North
He’s running! Or at least jogging. So perhaps we should remind ourselves of Andy Burnham’s views on England. One of Burnham’s arguments against an English parliament is that his heritage isn’t 100% English. Seriously! No I wouldn’t have an English parliament. I’m born in Liverpool of Irish ancestry, Scottish links in the past, and close…
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England, the Stateless Nation.
A great bit of writing from Elliot Bulmer explaining the annual St George’s Day doom loop of agonising over English national identity. Like Kashmiris, Kurds and Uyghurs, the English must debate the nature of their existence because England is – to borrow the term used by Austrian Chancellor Metternich to refer to pre-unification Italy –…
English Commonwealth 