tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post5002036559549937168..comments2024-02-26T00:59:26.907-08:00Comments on Ana the Imp: This EnglandAnastasia F-Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comBlogger120125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-91232299652851666482010-09-30T16:48:41.301-07:002010-09-30T16:48:41.301-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-43351239477927269412010-09-30T07:14:00.545-07:002010-09-30T07:14:00.545-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-68261534093742744242010-09-29T15:40:23.449-07:002010-09-29T15:40:23.449-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-64533744969144758252010-09-29T15:39:24.112-07:002010-09-29T15:39:24.112-07:00Rehan, thanks so much for that considered view. I ...Rehan, thanks so much for that considered view. I take issue with nothing you have written here.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-84717216235355021652010-09-29T15:38:37.607-07:002010-09-29T15:38:37.607-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-87929108315624807532010-09-29T15:36:24.191-07:002010-09-29T15:36:24.191-07:00Thanks for making that clear, Adam.Thanks for making that clear, Adam.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-17270755219273252722010-09-29T06:05:47.812-07:002010-09-29T06:05:47.812-07:00When the ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke in 200...When the ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke in 2006 about multicultural Britain he said <br />that we are “no longer the stuffy old Britain that used to be sent up in the comedy <br />sketches of the 1970s.” That Britain has always been a nation that accommodates cultures rather than alienating them. Britain has always been a welcoming country. He set out 6 guidelines on how this standard can still be maintained in the light of 7/7 and Islamic <br />radicalism. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, he failed to realise that there are limits to freedom and common human feelings need to be channeled in a certain way in order to be beneficial rather than detrimental to society. <br /><br />An essay by writer Iain Sinclair recently appeared in the <i>London Review of Books</i>. Subsequently, Hackney Council decided to suppress his work. I agree with Sinclair wholeheartedly in his concerns for Britain losing that which is precious and am glad that the move by Hackney Council to ban his work will only serve to promote it all the more. We need more people like him raising their voices against the organised destruction of this country and everything it represents, in the name of flimsy and empty terms such as 'Regeneration Project.' Sinclair has actually spent hundreds of hours walking the streets of London and talking to real London people, instead of being wined and dined by squalid apparatniks. <br /><br />It is faith, dare I propend, which uplifts and preserves cultural values and national cherished traditions. Societies that promoted traditional values and culture have been closed down by the government by starving them of funding and in its place we have so-called Support Groups for this and that, pumped-up with money and full of illiterate people in every sense of the word. History bears witness to the fact that a rapid decline in national beliefs and customs has always gone hand in hand with a rapid decline in traditional values and the things that make a nation. A rebuttal to the Blair speech was given by the Conservative Party stating as much but even they got it terribly wrong. Britain is not a country that can be run like the U.S. (arguably the biggest mistake of the Labour Government). We are a small island where diversity needs to be concentrated and society needs to be united via specific methods and means. Labour poured millions of pounds into what it thinks would have created such particulars but we are today an traditionally poorer country than we were so many years ago. Cultural diversity is one thing but there <i>is</i> also alienation probably no less different from racial prejudices of the 1970s. This, in turn has given rise to a boost in BNP votes in towns such as Barking which were previously rich in local traditions. Alienation is rife in the name of integration and, I think, racism and a refusal to accommodate differences are particularly marked.Rehan Qayoomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02391797858691917631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-72684167280114308712010-09-29T05:08:58.131-07:002010-09-29T05:08:58.131-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-5603872599765719562010-09-29T05:04:32.165-07:002010-09-29T05:04:32.165-07:00It's just I used to believe that they meant on...It's just I used to believe that they meant one and the same thing, nothing more complicated than that. I suppose I've been taught that they are not. I only ever use British now to describe my passport.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-4582800827190095342010-09-29T04:44:02.594-07:002010-09-29T04:44:02.594-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-60847318944754936432010-09-29T04:42:57.660-07:002010-09-29T04:42:57.660-07:00Yes, Adam, I know, but thanks for reminding me. :...Yes, Adam, I know, but thanks for reminding me. :-) I used to think England and Britain were interchangeable. Not any longer.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-48229645538945105822010-09-29T03:32:32.001-07:002010-09-29T03:32:32.001-07:00"What I'm talking about is the absurdity ..."What I'm talking about is the absurdity of people who live, work are schooled and travel cross the Fourth throughout their lives being forced to be members of different states. Can you honestly not see the absurdity of this?"<br /><br />As I'm married to a Canadian and have previously lived in Scotland, Canada, Germany and Ghana - in addition to England - no, I can't say that I do see the absurdity of it. But there you go again, insinuating that English nationalism is the same as separatism and English nationalists want to create a separate state. In the unlikely event that England became an independent state I'd be quite happy to see Malcolm Rifkind and his wife given English citizenship or to see them hold dual citizenship, or even to be treated favourably as Irish citizens were (see <a href="Ireland%20Act%201949" rel="nofollow">Ireland Act 1949</a>).Garethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10021800974251370747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-55543420379686236692010-09-29T03:13:51.339-07:002010-09-29T03:13:51.339-07:00:-):-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-87076682085189070432010-09-29T02:59:11.530-07:002010-09-29T02:59:11.530-07:00Brendano, really? OMG Let's have an Orange R...Brendano, <i>really</i>? OMG Let's have an Orange Revolution. Oops, that wouldn't go down to well in some parts of this Disunited Kingdom. :-))Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-84430205505331935442010-09-29T02:55:17.593-07:002010-09-29T02:55:17.593-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-55737761239679544922010-09-29T02:52:36.580-07:002010-09-29T02:52:36.580-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-26138142545355686882010-09-29T02:49:05.395-07:002010-09-29T02:49:05.395-07:00Thanks, Adam; I recognise and admire your ideals, ...Thanks, Adam; I recognise and admire your ideals, admire you for holding them with such tenacity, but the One Nation has gone. Disraeli also spoke of Young England. Time to look at that afresh perhaps. :-) <br /><br />I really don't want to take a specifically anti-Union position, but I could if I was so minded. Looking at the sevententh century, my period, the Union of the Crowns was a cause of considerable misery in England.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-31880512508586802712010-09-29T02:38:25.606-07:002010-09-29T02:38:25.606-07:00As an outsider, it seems to me that the reason Eng...As an outsider, it seems to me that the reason England did not differentiate itself from the UK was that it approximated to the UK, in terms of having the vast bulk of the population. English people tended to confuse the terms 'England', 'Britain' and 'UK'. When England won the World Cup in 1966, the flags being waved were all Union flags.<br /><br />Adam's case is not helped by the fact that there is no adjective corresponding to 'UK', hence the inaccurate 'British' is generally applied to it. I think Neal Ascherson suggested 'Ukanian' once.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-85105294890290233962010-09-29T02:33:04.004-07:002010-09-29T02:33:04.004-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-18091400770409179902010-09-29T02:22:35.851-07:002010-09-29T02:22:35.851-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-56524281095934253442010-09-29T02:20:30.944-07:002010-09-29T02:20:30.944-07:00It's not 'ironic' that a particular Sc...It's not 'ironic' that a particular Scot speaks better English than a particular Englishman, Adam. English is an international language, and is not the province of the English. Joyce said that the best English in the world is spoken in Drumcondra.<br /><br />Incidentally, on the abolition of the Irish parliament to extend the UK in 1800, two votes were required, with extra bribery, as the first one didn't go the way the British government wanted. Some irony there, in view of certain criticisms of the holding of two Lisbon referendums in Ireland.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-77132865106746861062010-09-29T02:16:23.508-07:002010-09-29T02:16:23.508-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-31035969472643809402010-09-29T02:13:16.893-07:002010-09-29T02:13:16.893-07:00My blog is about the English nation, not English n...My blog is about the English nation, not English nationalism. I'm English; I don't want to be anything else. I love my country. It's been submerged for far too long. It was alright for the Celtic nations to express pride and national identity, but not us; we were expected to carry the Union, we were expected to be British. Not any longer; not so far as I am concerned. I should make it clear, though, that I'm not arguing for any form of exclusion.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-5096881601683877622010-09-29T01:58:37.668-07:002010-09-29T01:58:37.668-07:00Should Lord Pearson and his wife, should Sir Malco...<i>Should Lord Pearson and his wife, should Sir Malcolm Rifkind and me really be divided in this way?</i><br /><br />Who is talking about dividing Lord Pearson and his wife, or you and Malcolm Rifkind (I hadn't realised that you and Malcolm were so close)?<br /><br />Rifkind is a carpet bagger parachuted into a safe English seat after his native people rejected him. He's also a hypocrite because he supports for his own Scotland a solution that he does not support for my England. <a href="http://toque.co.uk/malcolm-rifkind-english-votes" rel="nofollow">I have little time for the man</a>, an intelligent but dishonourable man, like most who infest Westminster.Garethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10021800974251370747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-75465118195580056892010-09-29T01:51:22.030-07:002010-09-29T01:51:22.030-07:00Mister Garrie, you're railing against the zeit...Mister Garrie, you're railing against the zeitgeist. Government's need to rule with consent, and much as you may dislike the fact, Parliament still has a role but it is not an absolutist role. 'UK supremecy', as you put it (presumably in reference to Crown sovereignty), stopped being absolute when power was devolved on the basis of popular sovereignty.<br /><br />There is no going back.<br /><br />The UK solution of abolishing members of the Scottish Parliament and installing dual mandate MPs won't work because it won't happen, the Scots won't have it and neither should the English. A man cannot serve two masters; dual mandate MPs will be a recipe for constitutional chaos. For a start you would be introducing nationalism into the Union (Imperial) Parliament, expecting English MPs to act as a national bloc in the interests of England, when previously MPs have always divided along party (not national) lines. And what would happen when there is a Conservative majority in England and no Labour majority across the UK? Have you thought about the psychological impact of restoring Westminster to its original role as an English parliament; what effect would that have on the Scots (many of whom already regard Westminster as the English parliament); do you suppose that excluding their MPs from 70% of the business of the House (English domestic affairs) will make them feel more or less British?<br /><br />The Union Parliament needs to be based on the principle that all members are equal. As Prof Bogdanor correctly points out, to be British is to wish to be represented at Westminster. Remove that desire by making Scottish politicians irrelevant would, given a few years, destroy the Union and peoples' sense of Britishness altogether.<br /><br />The Union if it is to survive will need to be a union based on the consent of its constituent people/nations. And a union based on the consent of its constituent parts in one in which sovereignty rests with the nations rather than the centre. The Crown in Parliament will only be sovereign by having sovereignty conferred upon it, not be divine right.<br /><br /><i>"The EU has taken sovereignty based on a supine pack of lies. You cannot compare the transparency of the Acts of Union to the conflated language of Rome, Massachusetts or the Lisbon Constitution."</i><br /><br />I hate to break it to you but the Acts of Union were imposed on the populations of both Scotland and England against their will and without their consent. I'm no fan of the EU and the modus operandi of the EU Establishment, but they're a damn sight more democratic than King James I England (II of Scotland), a widely despised King who did his popularity no end of good by catching Guy Fawkes in the act.<br /><br />I think you should write your piece decrying <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_sovereignty" rel="nofollow">popular sovereignty</a> and at the same time explain why you are not a British <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalism" rel="nofollow">nationalist</a>, explaination of which should entail on what basis the British state should continue if not as a nation and if not with the consent of its constituent nations.Garethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10021800974251370747noreply@blogger.com