Thursday, October 14, 2010

I'm sorry? Whose World Cup?

Ye Gods is there no end to the inanity amongst the political classes that Britain and England are one and the same? This is seriously insulting both to those who believe themselves to be English as well as to the Scot, Welsh and Northern Irish who though British themselves prefer the country of their birth to be the country of recognition when addressing them as a whole.

Hansard.

Q2. [16431] Chris Heaton-Harris (Daventry) (Con): As vice-chairman of the parliamentary football club and a qualified football referee, I am well aware that there are just 50 days left before FIFA makes its momentous decision on the location of the 2018 World cup. Will the Prime Minister join me in supporting the English bid, which is in the interests not only of football, but of the entire country?
The Prime Minister: I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I am sure the whole country, and indeed everyone in the House, will want to get behind our bid for the 2018 World cup. I think we can launch and run an incredible World cup. We have the best fans, the best teams and the best stadiums, but above all this country has the biggest enthusiasm for football. We can make it a success for Britain and for the world.
I'm fairly sure that not everyone in the country wants to get behind the English bid, they aren't English after all, indeed a lot of the people living in England don't regard themselves as English having been told by the previous government that they are allowed to be British/any other nation and not have to mix or be a part of society.
It's also highly noticeable that Cameron seems to be suffering from Brown's disease i.e. the inexplicable inability to say the words England or English, seeming to prefer Britain or British, something that a lot of the political class suffer from. Whereas a lot of the English think the only British thing about them these days is the wording on their passports, pretty much the same as the other nations in the United Kingdom.
I'm just sick and tired of being treated as an interchangeable Britisher, I'm not, that ended back in 1997 with devolution, though the roots possibly go back to the European Championships of 1996 with the adopting of the Flag of St George again as the true symbol of England rather than the butchers apron.
The English nationalists though still have a lot of work to do to disentangle the English from the taint of Britishness, too many of us still believe that English and British are interchangeable, that has to be countered at every turn until we get our own parliament and can run our own lives free from the British in Westminster and hopefully the EU in Brussels.

4 annotations:

Macheath said...

Well said! As an English-Scots-Welsh hybrid, I ought, perhaps, to see myself as an 'interchangeable Britisher' but I wholeheartedly share your indignation at the erosion of national identity by career politicians.

The fact that so many of them make this basic mistake argues that either they are entirely wrapped up in their own world view, or that they have been systematically drilled for years in the importance of sounding fully inclusive - even when it doesn't make sense.

fed up said...

In Parliament and MSM world England = British = 'the whole country'
Scots have to suffer endless replays of English football or Rooneys latest mishap or the English cricket without a single mention of the latest Scottish game ( It was against Spain the other night).

James Higham said...

He's not even British - he's EU.

Anonymous said...

Great post.

I agree with you 100%.

Fed up has a point too. Most of the BBC news has no relevence to those of us who are not in England, but usually they don't bother to mention that.

And when someone says they come for the North West of the UK, and you ask Lewis...or Harris?, they reply Manchester!

Most of all England has to get a separate identity. The flag is great, but you need to have a proper anthem, and a parliament... and a great big border up at Berwick ....LOL