Posted on 29 September 2009 by David
This article is cross-posted from Labour Home. Accordingly, it is orientated towards Labour Party members and sympathisers. I am not myself a member of the Labour Party. But I would like to see the Labour Party evolving into a movement focused on the needs of English society and people, which it has clearly failed to [...]
Filed under: Britain, Conservative Party, David Cameron, England, English governance, English nationhood, English social policy, Gordon Brown, Labour Party, NHS, New Labour, United Kingdom, devolution, economics, politics, progressive politics, social democracy, social policy | 4 Comments »
Posted on 26 September 2009 by David
Watched the TV interview with the English Democrat chairman Robin Tilbrook on the Daily Politics yesterday. Effectively, he was given about half of the five minutes allotted to the item, with the remaining half being given over to a couple of panellists. I thought he held his own quite well against some fairly tough questioning. [...]
Filed under: Anita Anand, BBC, Barnett Formula, Britain, British parliament, Daily Politics, England, English Democrats, English NHS, English Parliament, English democratic deficit, English governance, English identity, English nationalism, English nationhood, Englishness, Fraser Nelson, NHS, PR, Radio Four, Robin Tilbrook, Scotland, Scottish Parliament, Today Programme, UK governance, United Kingdom, asymmetric devolution, civic nationalism, constitutional reform, democracy, denial of England, devolution, general election, media bias, national identity, nationalism, nations and regions, parliament, politics, proportional representation, referendum, the English Question, unionism | 4 Comments »
Posted on 28 July 2009 by David
Introduction: Deliberations on British-constitutional reform must factor in the national questions
I recently signed up to ‘Real Change‘. This is a grassroots movement that aims to set in motion a nationwide debate, at local level, about fundamental constitutional reform, culminating ultimately in a citizens’ convention to collate and deliberate on all the options, and to come [...]
Filed under: Britain, British parliament, England, English Grand Committee, English Parliament, English governance, English nationhood, Gordon Brown, MPs, MPs' expenses, New Labour, Real Change, Scottish Claim of Right, Scottish independence, Scottish nationhood, UK governance, United Kingdom, West Lothian Question, asymmetric devolution, constitutional convention, constitutional reform, democracy, denial of England, devolution, national identity, nations and regions, parliament, parliamentary sovereignty, politics, popular sovereignty, representative democracy, republicanism, sovereignty, the English Question, unionism | 3 Comments »
Posted on 21 May 2009 by David
Over the past week or so, I’ve been attempting to write a rather long post on the implications of the ongoing MPs’ expenses scandal. I started to write it last week, when I was concerned that the initial reaction was tending to ignore the fact that public outrage about MPs’ behaviour was symptomatic of a [...]
Filed under: Britain, British parliament, Campaign for an English Parliament (CEP), Conservative Party, Cornwall, David Cameron, England, English Parliament, English governance, English identity, English nationhood, First Past the Post, Liberal Democrats, MPs' expenses, New Labour, Norman Tebbit, PR, UK governance, United Kingdom, West Lothian Question, accountability, constitutional reform, devolution, federal UK, federalism, parliament, petitions, politics, proportional representation, representative democracy, the English Question, unionism | 7 Comments »
Posted on 3 March 2009 by David
I’ve been thinking and reading quite a bit recently on the subject of liberty and the national question. This was the topic of a debate at the Convention On Modern Liberty event in London at the weekend. I wasn’t there but I’ve read the interestingly divergent accounts by Gareth Young (who was speaking on behalf [...]
Filed under: Britain, British identity, Convention on Modern Liberty, Downing Street petition, England, English governance, English identity, English nationalism, English nationhood, Englishness, Scotland, Scottish Claim of Right, Scottish independence, UK governance, United Kingdom, Wales, anglophobia, constitutional reform, denial of England, devolution, liberty, national identity, nationalism, politics, popular sovereignty, sovereignty, the English Question | 3 Comments »
Posted on 17 January 2009 by David
I was bowled over by the government’s response last Monday to the ‘England nation’ petition that I posted on the Number 10 website, and which so many of my readers signed – for which, many thanks.
To remind you, the petition asked: “We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to state whether he recognises that England [...]
Filed under: Britain, Downing Street petition, England, England Nation petition, English Parliament, English governance, English independence, English nationalism, English nationhood, Gordon Brown, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Scottish Claim of Right, Scottish nationhood, UK governance, United Kingdom, Wales, Welsh nationhood, constitutional reform, denial of England, devolution, federal UK, nationalism, nations and regions, parliament, parliamentary sovereignty, petitions, politics, popular sovereignty, referendum, representative democracy, say England, sovereignty, the English Question, unionism | 13 Comments »
Posted on 29 December 2008 by David
It’s hard sometimes to say ‘England’ even when you mean it, and mean to. The old political-linguistic correctness kicks in, and I find myself saying ‘British’ or ‘Brits’ to refer to my country or compatriots. This reflex reaction isn’t just a relic of upbringing and of a historic identification between England and Britain that is [...]
Filed under: Britain, British identity, England, English Parliament, English governance, English identity, English nationhood, Englishness, Great Britain, United Kingdom, constitutional reform, denial of England, devolution, national identity, parliament, politics, representative democracy, say England | 7 Comments »
Posted on 2 December 2008 by David
The trouble with the UK is ‘Great Britain’. The future of the UK, if it has one, will be settled by coming to a more stable, mature and equitable relationship between the different nations that currently make up that state. Great Britain, and its even more ill-defined cognate ‘Britain’, is the great interloper that stands [...]
Filed under: Britain, British identity, Britishness, Cornwall, England, English Parliament, English governance, English identity, English independence, English nationalism, English nationhood, Englishness, First Past the Post, Gordon Brown, Great Britain, New Labour, Northern Ireland, PR, Scotland, Scottish Claim of Right, Scottish independence, Scottish nationhood, Single Transferable Vote (STV), UK governance, United Kingdom, Wales, West Lothian Question, constitutional reform, denial of England, devolution, federal UK, federalism, national identity, nationalism, parliament, parliamentary sovereignty, political vision, politics, popular sovereignty, proportional representation, referendum, representative democracy, say England, sovereignty, the English Question, unionism | 23 Comments »
Posted on 16 November 2008 by David
I have written on many occasions, both in this blog and elsewhere, about the ways in which the government, the three main parties and the media seem to conspire to drop all mention of ‘England’ even when they’re discussing policies and topics that relate exclusively to England. This is most typically the case when they [...]
Filed under: Britain, Downing Street petition, England, England Nation petition, English Parliament, English governance, English nationhood, Gordon Brown, Labour Party, New Labour, Scottish nationhood, UK governance, United Kingdom, constitutional reform, denial of England, devolution, national identity, parliament, petitions, political vision, politics, say England | 2 Comments »
Posted on 3 October 2008 by David
Hat tip to Waking Hereward for this little gem. Here’s what the Labour MEP for the North West Region said, writing in the Labour magazine Egremont Today:
“I don’t know about you, but I am getting a bit fed up with those who keep telling me we need to have an extra public holiday centred around [...]
Filed under: Brian Simpson, Britain, British identity, Britishness, EU, England, English Parliament, English identity, English nationalism, English nationhood, Englishness, European Parliament, Labour Party, New Labour, United Kingdom, politics | 2 Comments »
