Like, I suspect, 99% of others who live on the largest of the British Islands, I don't understand the politics of Northern Ireland.
I can sort of understand the nationalist position. They want Ireland to be independent in the same way as the English Democrats, Mebyon Kernow, Plaid Cymru and the SNP want their parts of these islands to be independent or less dependent on each other.
There are those who propose and oppose nationalism in England, Scotland Cornwall and Wales but we tend to accept each other's views as legitimate ones to hold even in our most vehement of arguments. The vast majority of people in mainland Britain probably couldn't give a toss about the Independence / Union argument.
I don't know if my local county hall flies the Union Flag permanently, or if it flies it only on flag days or if it doesn't fly it at all, whatever it isn't a big deal to me and it won't be a big deal to most of us who live on the larger island. Even if it was a big deal we might send letters to the editor of the local rag, complain to our MP, we may even raise a petition. We wouldn't riot!
If anybody started a riot in Llandudno because the Union Flag was absent from the Town Hall the local Lore and Order Tory Brits would be the first to condemn the rioters and would insist that they were dealt with by the utmost severity of the law.
That is basically why I don't understand the politics of the north of Ireland, the loyalists don't seem very loyal to what the local Brits tell me are British values. And the local Brits tend to see the likes of Ian Paisley and his loyalist ilk as "Irish Scum" rather than a True Brits.
How can you be "loyalist" to Britain if the rest of Britain abhors and rejects your interpretation of loyalty?
Showing posts with label Britishness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Britishness. Show all posts
07/01/2013
25/06/2012
Does Britain Mean the Same to You as Britain Means to Me?
Gareth Young aka Toque has an interesting post on the Click
on Wales Blog site about Ed Milliband's rather odd speech on Defending
the Union in England
There is much in Gareth's critique of Mr Milliband's speech that I agree with, read his article!
What I find interesting in Mr Milliband's speech is his odd claim that we can all be equally British
Having to say: Scottish or British, Welsh or British English or British I don’t accept any of that., he says. But he doesn't acknowledge that being "British" might mean different things to different Britons!
I am Welsh and British, but my Britishness comes from the fact that I belong to the Britons who held most of this Island before the Romans and the Anglo Saxons and Normans poked their unwelcome noses into our affairs. My claim to Britishness is one that is superior to the English claim to Britishness!
The Scots are British by virtue of what was supposed to be a marriage of equal's so since the 1700's the Scots have been as equally British as the English.
Many of the English, however, don't seem to accept that there is a difference between being English and being British. During the 1966 World Cup challenge the Union Flag was the prevalent flag. During the Euro 2012 challenge almost every supermarket in Wales has had support OUR (England) team marketing. Even Welsh Rugby Matches on S4C have been inundated by the rather unfortunately predictive Mars Bar advert!
Being English and British to many English people has no resonance – they are two sides of the same coin – two words that mean exactly the same. Mr Milliband proved this when he said in defence of his Speech Keir Hardy was born in Scotland, represented a Welsh constituency and sat in the ENGLISH parliament. - not the British Parliament, the English Parliament!
Being British in England, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and the North of Ireland means completely different things to different people!
Even our definition of Britishness is a means to divide us rather than a label to unite us!
There is much in Gareth's critique of Mr Milliband's speech that I agree with, read his article!
What I find interesting in Mr Milliband's speech is his odd claim that we can all be equally British
Having to say: Scottish or British, Welsh or British English or British I don’t accept any of that., he says. But he doesn't acknowledge that being "British" might mean different things to different Britons!
I am Welsh and British, but my Britishness comes from the fact that I belong to the Britons who held most of this Island before the Romans and the Anglo Saxons and Normans poked their unwelcome noses into our affairs. My claim to Britishness is one that is superior to the English claim to Britishness!
The Scots are British by virtue of what was supposed to be a marriage of equal's so since the 1700's the Scots have been as equally British as the English.
Many of the English, however, don't seem to accept that there is a difference between being English and being British. During the 1966 World Cup challenge the Union Flag was the prevalent flag. During the Euro 2012 challenge almost every supermarket in Wales has had support OUR (England) team marketing. Even Welsh Rugby Matches on S4C have been inundated by the rather unfortunately predictive Mars Bar advert!
Being English and British to many English people has no resonance – they are two sides of the same coin – two words that mean exactly the same. Mr Milliband proved this when he said in defence of his Speech Keir Hardy was born in Scotland, represented a Welsh constituency and sat in the ENGLISH parliament. - not the British Parliament, the English Parliament!
Being British in England, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and the North of Ireland means completely different things to different people!
Even our definition of Britishness is a means to divide us rather than a label to unite us!
11/10/2008
The Best Politics Show?
Lots of blogs have side bar Vox Pop opinion polls. I am not keen on them so I have not (yet) added one to my side bar.
If I was to start such a poll on the most effective political programme on th telly I wonder who would win. Question Time? Dragons Eye? The Daily Politics?
The Programme that I would choose as the most effective political programme would be The One Show. Shown at that odd, everybody watching time between the News and proper programmes, it is witty, funny, charming and full of propaganda.
It is the most blatantly British programme on the BBC. Day in day out it promotes Gordon Brown's Britishness agenda. What is the best British invention ever? What is the funniest things Britons have done? When was the best British year? When was the worst British year?
Many of the answers to The One Show's questions about the best, the worst, the funniest etc date from before Britain even existed.
Despite being a light show it is packed with experts. Scientists, medics, historians, linguists, ornithologists, veterinarians, herbologists etc, etc all of whom use their expertise to prove that British is Best.
If a programme on S4C or BBC Alba tried to promote Wales or Scotland with even a smidgen of the propaganda values that The One Show uses to promote Britain it would be withdrawn, questions would be asked, heads would roll.
The idea that England could be promoted in such a biased way on the BBC is just ................. (fill in the blanks, I don't know that many obscenities).
Welsh, Scottish, English, Cornish (and after yesterday's offering even Manx) nationalists should complain en mass about the blatant unionist political propaganda that The One Show is.
If I was to start such a poll on the most effective political programme on th telly I wonder who would win. Question Time? Dragons Eye? The Daily Politics?
The Programme that I would choose as the most effective political programme would be The One Show. Shown at that odd, everybody watching time between the News and proper programmes, it is witty, funny, charming and full of propaganda.
It is the most blatantly British programme on the BBC. Day in day out it promotes Gordon Brown's Britishness agenda. What is the best British invention ever? What is the funniest things Britons have done? When was the best British year? When was the worst British year?
Many of the answers to The One Show's questions about the best, the worst, the funniest etc date from before Britain even existed.
Despite being a light show it is packed with experts. Scientists, medics, historians, linguists, ornithologists, veterinarians, herbologists etc, etc all of whom use their expertise to prove that British is Best.
If a programme on S4C or BBC Alba tried to promote Wales or Scotland with even a smidgen of the propaganda values that The One Show uses to promote Britain it would be withdrawn, questions would be asked, heads would roll.
The idea that England could be promoted in such a biased way on the BBC is just ................. (fill in the blanks, I don't know that many obscenities).
Welsh, Scottish, English, Cornish (and after yesterday's offering even Manx) nationalists should complain en mass about the blatant unionist political propaganda that The One Show is.
04/09/2008
Brown's British Values
When one hears of reporters being manhandled and assaulted by undercover police for asking awkward questions of leading politicians, one usually thinks of places like soviet Russia, Communist China, Zimbabwe or some tin pot fascist dictatorship.
This couldn't happen here, after all freedom of the press is one of those Great British Values that Gordon Brown is so fond of reminding us about. Or is it? Apparently not according to this report in The Times:
This couldn't happen here, after all freedom of the press is one of those Great British Values that Gordon Brown is so fond of reminding us about. Or is it? Apparently not according to this report in The Times:
Gordon Brown dodged reporters’ questions about his leadership when he arrived in Liverpool to address the North West Economics Conference before heading to Scotland to talk to the Scottish CBI tonight. A reporter was repeatedly manhandled away from Mr Brown by undercover police officers.
And later at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool a Special Branch officer and two uniformed police officers interrupted a reporter’s interview with Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport. Mr Burnham said he was unaware of Mr Clarke’s comments so declined to respond. The reporter was forced to give his details to the police.
Despite being accredited for the event, the reporter, John Fahey from the Press Association, alleges he was forced away by Special Branch and members of the COI, the organisation which handles regional media events. He claims he was "belted in the solar plexus quite forcefully" after confronting Brown with questions about Charles Clarke's comments this morning.
If his account of events is correct, it seems extraordinary that special branch should interrupt an interview with the Culture Secretary...
18/10/2007
England or South Africa?
I am not very interested in sports. I have never quite understood the significance of the fact that my country is better than your country because a dozen or so of my compatriots can kick, throw, head or bat a ball better than a dozen or so of your compatriots.
Having said that I am aware of how politically significant 1966 was. 1966 was important not just because England won the football World Cup, but that it was won by beating Germany. It was the real end of the two world wars. Had England won in 66 by beating France, Brazil, Sweden or Argentina, it wouldn't have been half as significant an event as beating Germany was.
Every England supporter over the age of 21 had been born during or before the war. They had known the feeling that England had won the wars in theory but had lost out in practice. 1966 proved that England WAS better than Germany.
1966 was also important because it showed that England was a nation and not an euphemism for Britain as had been the case before. England beat the Fritz, alone in 66, without the help of Scotland, Wales or the Irish Unionists.
England won the rugby World Cup in 2003. England has probably more than a 50/50 chance of being the first country to win the cup twice in a row, but even two rugby World Cups wont add up to the significance of 1966.
But yet the thought that England might win is enough to send some of my sport loving acquaintances into fits of apoplexy - including those who claim to consider themselves to be more British than Welsh, they will be shouting for South Africa on Saturday rather than our neighbours who share this island with us. Why?
Gwe, Ceredig and Normal have written about British / Welsh identity recently and have all claimed that a dual identity is possible. Can they explain how this dual Welsh / British identity can also be so anti English?
I have little interest in the outcomes of sporting events, but as a quarter of my ancestry is English and none is South African, I wish England all the best for Saturday.
Which team will other Welsh bloggers support: England or South Africa? Let me know who and why in the comments
Having said that I am aware of how politically significant 1966 was. 1966 was important not just because England won the football World Cup, but that it was won by beating Germany. It was the real end of the two world wars. Had England won in 66 by beating France, Brazil, Sweden or Argentina, it wouldn't have been half as significant an event as beating Germany was.
Every England supporter over the age of 21 had been born during or before the war. They had known the feeling that England had won the wars in theory but had lost out in practice. 1966 proved that England WAS better than Germany.
1966 was also important because it showed that England was a nation and not an euphemism for Britain as had been the case before. England beat the Fritz, alone in 66, without the help of Scotland, Wales or the Irish Unionists.
England won the rugby World Cup in 2003. England has probably more than a 50/50 chance of being the first country to win the cup twice in a row, but even two rugby World Cups wont add up to the significance of 1966.
But yet the thought that England might win is enough to send some of my sport loving acquaintances into fits of apoplexy - including those who claim to consider themselves to be more British than Welsh, they will be shouting for South Africa on Saturday rather than our neighbours who share this island with us. Why?
Gwe, Ceredig and Normal have written about British / Welsh identity recently and have all claimed that a dual identity is possible. Can they explain how this dual Welsh / British identity can also be so anti English?
I have little interest in the outcomes of sporting events, but as a quarter of my ancestry is English and none is South African, I wish England all the best for Saturday.
Which team will other Welsh bloggers support: England or South Africa? Let me know who and why in the comments
28/09/2007
Welsh not Walian
One of the mores of the British Empire was divide and conquer. The anti Welsh have used this with a vengeance since the advent of devolution.
In as much as my passport, my driving licence my birth / marriage and (if things don't change) my death certificate force me to have a British Identity, whether I like it or not, the existence of the National Assembly forces a Welsh identity on those who who live in Wales but abhor all things Welsh.
What is interesting is that this new Welsh Identity is not Welsh according to the British nationalist imperialists it is now Walian.
Walians come in many different shapes and forms. There are north Walians, south Walians, east Walians, Welsh speaking Walians, English Walians, British Walians, west Walians, gay Walians, straight Walians, bi Walians, Muslim Walians, Christian Walians, rich Walians, poor Walians, drunk Walians, sobber Walians any sort of Walian that you can imagine that divides one Walian from another and ensures that the multi faceted community that exists in Wales can never be considered as united in a single all encompassing national identity called WELSH.
In as much as my passport, my driving licence my birth / marriage and (if things don't change) my death certificate force me to have a British Identity, whether I like it or not, the existence of the National Assembly forces a Welsh identity on those who who live in Wales but abhor all things Welsh.
What is interesting is that this new Welsh Identity is not Welsh according to the British nationalist imperialists it is now Walian.
Walians come in many different shapes and forms. There are north Walians, south Walians, east Walians, Welsh speaking Walians, English Walians, British Walians, west Walians, gay Walians, straight Walians, bi Walians, Muslim Walians, Christian Walians, rich Walians, poor Walians, drunk Walians, sobber Walians any sort of Walian that you can imagine that divides one Walian from another and ensures that the multi faceted community that exists in Wales can never be considered as united in a single all encompassing national identity called WELSH.
25/08/2007
Britishness, Welshness and Toryness
I haven't been able to get a copy of John Osmond's pamphlet Crossing the Rubicon in which he recounts the story behind the coalition discussion that occurred as a result of the last Assembly Elections. There is an excellent post about the pamphlet on the Our Kingdom blog.
Our Kingdom includes an interesting quote from the pamphlet by Conservative AM David Melding:
We can now see that the idea that Britishness must be conceived just within the confines of a unitary state, has been merely an historical episode, lasting perhaps from 1707 to the 1950s. There is a great release of energy when you recognise the reality of something as profound as this.
We need a new sense of what it means to be British. If we remain stuck in the 1950s view we will be in trouble. And if it turns out that we cannot re-invent a new form of Britishness to fit with the needs of the 21st century… then it won’t be much of a loss to see it go.
I agree with Mr Melding that Britishness is very much an outdated concept and that it has been outdated since at least the 1950's. What I don't understand is why he should want to reinvent something so passé, especially as we have something new and vibrant to replace it - a rediscovered Welsh identity. As the people of Wales, Scotland and England are all re-discovering their true national identities; the chances of inventing a new form of Britishness are pretty slim.
Mr Melding's acceptance that there wont be much of a loss if out-dated Britishness goes and Glyn Davies' recent acceptance that Wales could flourish as an independent nation, might suggest that the Conservative and Unionist Party in Wales is going through a dramatic change. However one must remember that the new Welsh Tories in the Assembly are not the only elected members of the Conservative party in Wales. There are also three Conservative MPs.
Much has been made of the split between Westminster and Cardiff Bay in the Labour Party; the tension between Welsh Welsh Labour and British Welsh Labour, but that is nothing compared to the split between the Conservative MP's and the Conservative AM's.
All three Welsh Conservative MP's David Davies, David Jones and Stephen Crabb are, apparently, members of the extreme right wing Cornerstone Group who believe that The devolution referenda excluded 85% of the population - (i.e. the English) - but the disgracefully wasteful talking shops in Edinburgh and Cardiff are supported by a preponderance of English-taxpayers' money.... There should be an all-UK referendum on the issue of abolishing the existing devolution settlement.
There is a clear split in the Conservative Party in Wales, they have been good at papering over the cracks so far, but they can't hide the rift forever.
Our Kingdom includes an interesting quote from the pamphlet by Conservative AM David Melding:
We can now see that the idea that Britishness must be conceived just within the confines of a unitary state, has been merely an historical episode, lasting perhaps from 1707 to the 1950s. There is a great release of energy when you recognise the reality of something as profound as this.
We need a new sense of what it means to be British. If we remain stuck in the 1950s view we will be in trouble. And if it turns out that we cannot re-invent a new form of Britishness to fit with the needs of the 21st century… then it won’t be much of a loss to see it go.
I agree with Mr Melding that Britishness is very much an outdated concept and that it has been outdated since at least the 1950's. What I don't understand is why he should want to reinvent something so passé, especially as we have something new and vibrant to replace it - a rediscovered Welsh identity. As the people of Wales, Scotland and England are all re-discovering their true national identities; the chances of inventing a new form of Britishness are pretty slim.
Mr Melding's acceptance that there wont be much of a loss if out-dated Britishness goes and Glyn Davies' recent acceptance that Wales could flourish as an independent nation, might suggest that the Conservative and Unionist Party in Wales is going through a dramatic change. However one must remember that the new Welsh Tories in the Assembly are not the only elected members of the Conservative party in Wales. There are also three Conservative MPs.
Much has been made of the split between Westminster and Cardiff Bay in the Labour Party; the tension between Welsh Welsh Labour and British Welsh Labour, but that is nothing compared to the split between the Conservative MP's and the Conservative AM's.
All three Welsh Conservative MP's David Davies, David Jones and Stephen Crabb are, apparently, members of the extreme right wing Cornerstone Group who believe that The devolution referenda excluded 85% of the population - (i.e. the English) - but the disgracefully wasteful talking shops in Edinburgh and Cardiff are supported by a preponderance of English-taxpayers' money.... There should be an all-UK referendum on the issue of abolishing the existing devolution settlement.
There is a clear split in the Conservative Party in Wales, they have been good at papering over the cracks so far, but they can't hide the rift forever.
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