The English People...

This blog deplores racism and does not advocate an ethnocentric view of citizenship. It is true, that once nationality was inherently bound with the concept of ethnicity, and in many places still is, as shown by the Balkan Conflicts in general, the Kosovo situation in particular, the situations in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and the tensions in Iraq.
The violence and ethnic cleansings in these areas, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and pogroms throughout history all show the dangers and indeed reprehensibility of identifying nationhood too closely with ethnicity. The Second World War and the holocaust in particular gave Nationalism a dirty name, by association with belligerence, right-wing dogma, and genocide.

However, identifying an 'English' ethnicity is itself difficult. It is of course a left-liberal cliche, and a tool for denying the people of England true self-determination to call England a 'mongrel nation' and deny the existence of an 'English People'. Nevertheless, like many cliches it contains a grain of truth. The 'English' up until 1707 were indeed a diverse people, made up of Celts, Angles, Saxons, Jutes and the other Germanic Tribes, Normans, Scandinavians, Hugenots and others, and of course this diversity has only increased in the 300 years since, and particularly more recently. However, this diversity does not weaken the right of England to be a sovereign state and for her people to have self-determination. Rather, it adds a particular strength to the cause of English Independence, and immunises it from the charges of racism or xenophobia that Nationalistic movements are often (rightly) accused of.
The fact is that English patriotism has never been based on narrow ethnicity, or abhorrent and scientifically illiterate views of 'racial purity'. Rather, it is based on a belief of shared values, a knowledge of shared history and culture that forges a closeness that simply cannot be felt when people from different, established cultural backgrounds are forced to together into a manufactured identity. For proof of this, witness the fact that Hogmanay remains a Scottish event, or that Andy Murray - for all that he is the finer player by some distance - is not thought of as affectionately by the English as Tim Henman. It also encourages assimilation of immigrants by their choice rather than coercion, and avoids the pressure-cooker approach of multiculturalism or the imposition of a false identity such as Britishness.
This summer will give a vivid illustration of this point. The Football World Cup will see an explosion of English patriotism and expressions of English identity, as the St George Flag appears on cars, houses, and draped over shoulders. At the same time, the Scots and Welsh and Irish will be taking up their familiar refrain 'Anyone But England'. On the pitch ( and hopefully doing well) will be several players of black descent, playing their heart out for England. Of course, they are professional sportsmen who want to play at the highest level, and as many players in many sports with passports of convenience show, it is not necessary to have an affinity with a country to represent them. More heartening will be what is happening in houses and pubs up and down the country, as people from all ethnic backgrounds will support the English team. This identification by people of all races with the idea of England is the strongest argument for self-determination, and the hostility of the other nations of the United Kingdom showns why the false identity of 'Britishness' is nothing but a sham.
As I've already written, after the next election, whoever is in power it is highly likely that the Government will lack legitimacy in one country of the UK. Because the constituent nations of the UK do not viscerally connect with each other, this will affect the very legitimacy of the UK as a state, for their will truly be no democratically elected government. As Daniel Hannan has pointed out "It cannot be stressed too often that democracy requires a demos: a unit with which we identify when we use the word “we”. Take away the demos and you’re left only with the kratos: the power of a system that must compel by force of law what it dare not ask in the name of civic patriotism."

If after May, the Scots feel ruled by a Conservative government voted in by the English, or the English feel ruled by a Labour Party voted in by the Scots, the fissures that already exist will expand towards breaking point. That is why it is important to assert now, and assert powerfully and responsibly, the case for English Independence.