England's folk tradition includes St George and his flag. Denying this is to deny England.
There is a glorious and passionate left-wing tradition in English folk music. From Billy Bragg’s remembering of Diggers and Levellers through the seemingly vast Kettle family giving us Merry Hell, to the traditional songs of John Spiers and Jon Boden. There has always been the idea that folk music is the music of the people, of the ordinary man, not a c…
The "Dances with Wolves" conundrum: ethnicity, identity and Englishness
In ‘Dances with Wolves’, Kevin Costner’s 1990 film, a white officer in the union army, John Dunbar, embraces Lakota (Sioux) culture and lifestyle and, in the manner of some 19th century British officials in Africa and India, goes native. It’s a work of fiction that, at its core, reflects how the loss of that plains Indian, Lakota culture is an American …
Reclaiming England's May Day - an anticipation
Today is May Day – that time when all the Communists and assorted fellow travellers, useful idiots and such like bang on about “international workers” and the revolution. We get to hear the Internationale sung (by the three or four folk who can still remember the words) and tales of the workers struggle are voiced. This is the day of labour – which of c…
How the political right lost its way (and why Frank Bruno is an Englishman)
It was St George’s Day and Frank Bruno, great boxer, sometimes troubled soul and national treasure posts about being an Englishman:
The Myth of Britain makes our identity, we must make sure the story is passed on
He sees no stars who does not see them first
Englishness. Who gets to win life's lottery?
It starts with a discussion between a Scotsman and a Russian who, in a wider conversation about the effect of immigration, touch on the nature of Englishness and specifically whether or not Englishness is an ethnicity. The two positions are clearly set out with the Russian saying that, of course, English is an ethnicity while the Scot insists that, no, …