British Day

[TheQuiet1]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4611682.stm

Does anyone else think that having a 'British Day' is an incredibly unBritish thing to do? Or is that just me? I'm far more of the opinion that rather than having a special day set aside to celebrate being proud of being British, I'd rather let everyday achievements speak for themselves. For example, I'd be a heck of a lot prouder of the place if NHS funding was made more efficient, if sensible education reforms were introduced, anti-social behaviour curbed (The RESPECT agenda...is he taking the mick!?) etc.

I mean I appreciate the sentiment in what's he's saying. Maybe we do all need to "celebrate our national identity" (whatever that really means), maybe we do need to be more patriotic...but a day set aside to do so? Wouldn't making the UK a better place to live be far more effective?

And of-course cynical Brit that I am, I can't help but feel Brown is just doing it to fudge over Labour's traditionally anti-patriotism attitude and his own Scottish background that might be associated with more 'separatist' attitudes of the past in an attempt to make him seem a more attractive PM. One of the papers reckons that Brits might not appreciate a Scottish PM coming down to London and ruling over us all (I'm obviously paraphrasing here!). WTF? Why should a Scottish PM be any more... diversive (wrong word, but you're either following me here or you're not. I'm guessing not!) than an English one? OK so there are far more English Brits than any other nation but Scotland is just as much part of the UK as everyone else, why shouldn't a Scot be in charge? I really don't get why anyone should have an issue with it........unless the papers are just taking the mick, which is probably (hopefully) the most likely!


Vaguely connected issue here: A lot of people are talking about how Labour wants us all to feel British on the one hand but at the same time encouraging devolution among the separate nations. On that point...last year the Scottish Parliament introduced an Act that made it a specific crime to attack/obstruct a member of the emergency services carrying out their job. The Act might not have been a great success in terms of reducing attacks and convictions under it are low but attacks on the emergency services are, unfortunately, becoming increasingly common yet this horrible issue is seemingly being ignored by the rest of the UK! Surely this is a national issue that warrants a national response? Why should Scotland be the only one doing a thing about it? What's with all these new laws being introduced in some parts of the UK but not others? Like the smoking ban...all coming in at different times and with different conditions depending on which UK country you're in. How confusing is this!? Would some CLARITY and COHESION really kill us!?

I'm ranting now aren't I? Sorry...

 

[Eliv8]

Bloody wankers

 

[fly so high!]

What!!!!
You want to knock back a day off!!!
we have Australia day, thats time for our family to go the park have a BBQ , a picnic, go the beach, we have a newly acquired tradition, the family hops in the car and we just drive, to no-where in particular,just drive, we like to go to small old country towns.
Its a great way of spending some well earned time off! And you get paid for it!!!!

 

[yolland]

Well, Bastille Day and 4th of July commemorate actual events central to national history, and are not simply "Let's all slap ourselves on the back for being -----------" occasions. So, I'm not sure his analogy fully holds water here.

On the other hand, I remember being amused by a casual comment an English writer, Munro I believe, made in a recent (American) news feature story about the cultural difficulties of getting Europeans to embrace the idea of European identity (as opposed to their own national identities). She essentially said: Well, you Americans have this very fragile sense of national unity because you don't share a common cultural legacy and long history and whatnot like we do, so you have to constantly bolster it with all this flag-waving and corny "Pass It On" billboards and such. I laughed, but I was also kind of incredulous, because I found her notion of what really motivates us to feel a sense of national belonging pretty short-sighted and naive.

Of course, Americans go through our own hand-wringing about the ultimate usefulness and meaningfulness of dutiful displays of patriotic pageantry all the time.

 

[TheQuiet1]

What!!!!
You want to knock back a day off!!!
we have Australia day, thats time for our family to go the park have a BBQ , a picnic, go the beach, we have a newly acquired tradition, the family hops in the car and we just drive, to no-where in particular,just drive, we like to go to small old country towns.
Its a great way of spending some well earned time off! And you get paid for it!!!!

Now if Brown had only mentioned THAT in his speech! You know I may have been a little bit hasty before...................although let's just hope the British Day date is during the summer! (Not that it makes a real lot of difference...the rain will just be warmer )

 

[fly so high!]

Now you got the idea!!!!
Leave the BS for the polly's

 

[A_Wanderer]

Sounds brilliant, have social policies to crack down on yobs, biometric ID cards interlinked with the CCTV system and a healthy dose of nationalism to go with some soft socialism.

Blairite Totalitarianism

 

[Kieran McConville]

I thought you'd be on Blair's side Wanderer, after all he's one of the Big Three in our glorious new world war.

 

[A_Wanderer]

You are free to take one issue and fill the gaps in to make your strawman.

I also support the right of Imams to spew anti-semitic drivel as much as I support the right for Christians to expouse noxious homophobic and anti-Muslim statements or Nazi's dealing out holocuast denial. In the marketplace of ideas they are the bottom of the barrel and can be defeated with free speech and mockery.

I fully oppose the principle of the "Australia Card", CCTV and domestic spying without warrant and judicial oversight.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Strawman! Ha! Coming from you, mate, that is priceless.

Thing is (and I oppose intrusive nonsense like Australia Cards too), it's not just socialist Britain proposing these sort of measures. That's the thing.