A Different Angle

The Commonwealth Games has come and gone, and despite the disturbing reports coming out of New Delhi of filth, depravity and condoms clogging up U-bends (Just wait until the athletes get to Glasgow in four years' time;)) and the fact that it is small beer compared to the Olympics, it is an event I much prefer to the more famous spectacle. Here's why; because my country actually gets to compete as a country, not as part of an artificial state which I have precious little affinity.

England gets to be England again, and the athletes again put in an excellent showing as they were narrowly edged into third place in the medals table by the host nation (albeit they won 41 more medals than India overall) and improved on their 2006 tally. However, even if they had finished with not even a single bronze I wouldn't have particularly cared - the fact that they are able to compete as England instead of Great Britain is worth its weight in gold for me.

Sadly, 2012 will be another story and the Union Jacks will be ubiquitous as politicians push their agenda and the dim general public allow themselves to be led by the nose. In addition, there will be a football team comprised entirely of English players that will be competing under the GB banner. While I can't bring myself to cheer on their opponents, to say I'm not chock-full of enthusiasm for this uniquely ridiculous situation would be an understatement akin to saying I wouldn't trust agenda-driven creation science as far as Heather Mills could hoof a battleship.

At the World Cup, England was the only "nation" competing that wasn't a country in the true sense of the word...something i find deeply disquieting. We only have ourselves to blame though, and I'm realistic enough to admit that English nationalism has a hell of a long way to go before it can think about troubling the political mainstream. It is beginning to make inroads though and fortunately there are intelligent people who can see that "English nationalism" is not a euphemism for white supremacy and far-right fuckwittery. Most irritatingly, there are many intelligent people who know perfectly well that this isn't the case but choose to peddle this myth anyway as means to strangle the germinating English nationalism at birth.

Unfortunately any type of nationalism (and to be honest, I'm distinctly uncomfortable with that word in any context) is going to attract nogginses and any allusions to preserving indigenous English culture immediately bring forth accusations of Nazism. Let's be clear, being pro-English does not mean excluding British Asians, blacks, Catholics or any other minority group. Yes, in a historical sense, the 'English' are a related group of Germanic tribes that first came to Britain in 449 AD. But many cultures have contributed to what it is to be English today - Romano-British, Scandinavian, Norman and more recently Irish, Indian, Chinese and Afro-Caribbean.

The challenge is two-fold: assimilating different ethnic groups into a shared English identity and educating the indigenous English that by definition it does not mean white Anglo-Saxon protestant. Clearly England is nowhere near as united as it could be, or indeed as we'd like it to be; but it isn't a unique situation: France, Germany and the Netherlands all face similar difficulties in weaving the many non-European minorities into their national fabric. The one advantage England has over those nations though is that we have the opportunity to re-invent ourselves. Shedding the baggage of the British state can, and should, go hand in hand with expunging the image of the Union Jack subjugating the former colonies and its inhabitants.

We can start from scratch under a new flag which doesn't exclude anybody. Leave the white supremacist nonsense to the BNP. It irritates me when English patriots are condescendingly applauded for 'finally claiming the St George's Cross back from the racists'. Apparently we've finally been doing that for over 15 years now. Perhaps those who are still committed to the Union should concentrate on snatching the UJ back from the far right and Northern Ireland Loyalists and their mainland sympathisers!

It was equally refreshing not to have to endure God Save the Queen at the Commonwealths, because as an atheist who believes in a secular English republic, it sticks in my craw on many levels. Jerusalem is preferable, although as it talks about the visit to Somerset of a man for whose existence there is not a jot of historical evidence, I wouldn't be satisfied with that as the new national anthem either. A new nation deserves a new stirring anthem, although that's a debate that can clearly wait.

The English won't pro-actively seek independence any time soon - there are too many passive Brits. By that I mean those who think Britain and England are interchangeable terms, who are too asinine or lazy to look at it any other way. It'd the lazy ones I find hardest to forgive, but take heart from the fact that the apathetic are easier to convince than zealous pro-Brits. The majority of passionate British nationalists, I would say, are found in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Yes, Scotland has a far more evolved and sophisticated nationalist movement than England, but it also has a far more vocal Unionist element. As it stands, the latter are in the box seat, unfortunately.

Growing Scottish desire for independence, it can be argued, is the best chance England has of becoming a nation in its own right. True, contrary to what some mistaken people appear to think, if Scotland was to go her own way then the Union would be defunct. Those who think it would now be a union of England, Wales and Northern Ireland are mistaken. If one constituent country leaves the Union, then the Union is kaput. Thing is, although it is certainly a question of when rather than if, I'm not convinced Scottish independence is quite as imminent as some seem to think.

Devolution has opened a serious can of worms. Basically, the other home nations are on lengthy extendable leads and are permitted to wander much further from the Westminster dog trainer before they get hauled back. England is not given this freedom because as the largest piece of the GB jigsaw, it has to be kept at heel because if England starts to shake off the British yoke then the whole thing falls apart. So far, the much tighter leash is having the desired effect but the tide is turning.

The English public's complete disillusionment with the three main parties of british politics is inevitable, and this can only be a boon to the cause of English self-determination. Labour brazenly showed its complete contempt for the English as evidenced by that odious coldsore Jack Straw's comment that we "are not worth saving as a race". The electorate will soon remember why they booted the Conservatives out (how the hell could they forget?) when the Tories come back to pick up where they left off in '97, and as the LibDems have whored themselves out to finally get a slice of government action, they'll never be trusted again.

I'm going to have to live this thrill vicariously, as I no longer live in England. I confess I have no plans to return there permanently either, so the reader could be forgiven for thinking that this is no concern of mine. I beg to differ - when England is a country again, I will no longer have to explain to my neighbours that the red and white flag I have outside my house does not mesn I am selling medical supplies and that the Union flag is not the flag of England.

Thanks for reading.