Johnny Hates Jazz

Wales more British than England
Michael Wills’ speech on Britishness that I mentioned previously is up on the Ministry of Justice website. The key findings are these:

80% felt a strong sense of belonging to Britain
82% in England felt a strong sense of belonging to England
91%% in Scotland felt a strong sense of belonging to Scotland
95% in Wales felt a strong sense of belonging to Wales
81% in England felt a strong sense of belonging to Britain
87% in Wales felt a strong sense of belonging to Britain
70% in Scotland felt a strong sense of belonging to Britain
All of which makes Wales the most British nation of Great Britain (curiously Northern Ireland is not mentioned). This follows on from a YouGov poll which also found Britishness strongest in Wales, but in a forced response on primary national identity.

Michael Wills doesn’t go as far as claiming that devolution has strengthened the Union, but:

For years, commentators have argued that this government’s measures of devolution have wounded, perhaps fatally, the Union, and that multiculturalism has fragmented national cohesion. But, while it is true that English, Welsh and Scottish sentiment has strengthened and that, for example, twice as many black and minority ethnic respondents felt a sense of belonging to their religion or faith as white respondents, nevertheless being British remains central to a sense of belonging for the great majority of the peoples of these islands. There are many and complex reasons for this resilience but, among other things, it must point to the importance of the pluralism that defines being British.

Naturally it is the pluralism of Britishness that distinguishes it from the “other allegiances we feel to one or other of the constituent parts of the United Kingdom”. Nevertheless, 28% say they feel less British than five years previous, so maybe pluralism just isn’t enough.


From the audience the English Question was posed and ignored:

Wills dodged a direct question by Anthony [Barnett] on why the government doesn’t just offer the English a referendum on an English parliament inside a British Union, which, after all, would seem to be the logical outcome of an emphasis on the need for both identity and public participation.

Anthony now knows what it is to be a campaigner for an English parliament.

Campaign for an English Parliament

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English Democrats SAY NO To European Union

English not British not European
- It's time to decide at the 2009 European Elections