November 22, 2005
The Archbishop of York on the English
The Archbishop of York has apparently said that the English need to reclaim their national identity:
He called for the English to rediscover their cultural identity by properly marking celebrations such as St George’s Day on April 23. “I speak as a foreigner really. The English are somehow embarrassed about some of the good things they have done. They have done some terrible things but not all the Empire was a bad idea. Because the Empire has gone there is almost the sense in which there is not a big idea that drives this nation.”I'm not sure I'm too happy about the implied equality between the British Empire and the English (it was the British Empire after all) but it is a good start and a useful contribution by the Archbishop.
He also said that "Multiculturalism has seemed to imply, wrongly for me, let other cultures be allowed to express themselves but do not let the majority culture at all tell us its glories, its struggles, its joys, its pains,".
It's would be easy to see an ulterior motive here (ie using English nationalism as a leverage for Christianity) but another voice adding to the slowly rising chorus is useful.
Can anyone doubt that this issue is still a marginal one? Devolution has thrown a real spanner into the machinery that is Britain. Devolution and a seeming willingness (true or not) to decry England and talk up other minority cultures have acted as catalysts and many people are beginning to notice.
It's too early to tell if a rising English Nationalism will be the big localised issue of the early 21st century but all the ingredients are there. As commentators we all take a gamble on what's hot to trot and what isn't and, as time passes, it's going to be fascinating to see how many other bloggers join the gig.
