One Britain, One Nation Day.

[Jinx]

dandarez said:

I learnt something else then I'd never heard of then. In 2009 (I think) he was given the West Yorkshire Police 'Oscar'.
Who knew that the police can receive an Oscar!

Normally there is a Foxtrot in front of it.

[ElectricSoup]

2xChevrons said:

BritishBlitz87 said:

I think having a National Day is a great idea. We seem to be one of very few countries that don't have one. France has Bastille Day, Germany has Unity Day, Russia has the October Revolution celebrations, America has the 4th of July, why can't we have a day of flag-waving, good-natured jingoism, parades and barbecues?

Because it

BritishBlitz87 said:

just screams naff OTT po-faced patriotism of a distinctly un-British nature.

That's the massive irony of all this recent stoking of very overt, shallow and performative jingoism and 'Backing Britain' rhetoric - those doing it claim it's just unabashed pride in traditional British values but it's all profoundly un-British. We've always (not so) secretly looked down on those lesser, newer, more insecure nations that had to have days of mandatory flag waving, orchestrated displays of national pride and banging on about how great they are all the time. That's what the French or, worse still, the Americans do.

As Michael Flanders said over 50 years ago "in the old days when I was a boy we didn't bother with nationalism - nationalism was on the way out. We'd got pretty well everything we wanted. We didn't go around saying how marvellous we were, everyone already knew that."

Traditionally the British people have always had a healthy scepticism for people who are too genuinely earnest, who seem to wear their heart on their sleeve or who resort to demagoguery. Regardless of which sort of politics or morals are being espoused. That unfortunately seems to be lessening by the day over the past 10 years or so but I see no reason to welcome this sort of base trite claptrap as it continues the process.

Exactly. It's all such bed wetting insecurity. Which is all Brexit was in the first place (in utter contrast to the reality of things which was that our EU membership actually enhanced our status and influence on the world stage, we were drivers of EU policy and direction), which itself then triggered this landslide of nationalist vomit and doggerel.

Abject humililation. Embarrassing. We stand dimished in the world, and the current clownshow government seems hell bent on making it worse, so that they can maintain their 40% support - which is sufficient, under our appalling electroal system, to deliver them majority government in seeming perpetuity. Our Democracy is under attack and our counstitution and instituions are too weak to do anything about it. That which made us unique and powerful has been stripped away by nationalism to reveal an insecure, nasty,spiteful little nation.

We are not this country. We are not the 40%. The majority must reassert itself before it's too late. We desperately need opposition parties to stand together, and we need to elect a government which will truly represent out real values and potential and soft power as a nation.

[MC Bodge]

ElectricSoup said:

Exactly. It's all such bed wetting insecurity. Which is all Brexit was in the first place (in utter contrast to the reality of things which was that our EU membership actually enhanced our status and influence on the world stage, we were drivers of EU policy and direction), which itself then triggered this landslide of nationalist vomit and doggerel.

Abject humililation. Embarrassing. We stand dimished in the world, and the current clownshow government seems hell bent on making it worse, so that they can maintain their 40% support - which is sufficient, under our appalling electroal system, to deliver them majority government in seeming perpetuity. Our Democracy is under attack and our counstitution and instituions are too weak to do anything about it. That which made us unique and powerful has been stripped away by nationalism to reveal an insecure, nasty,spiteful little nation.

We are not this country. We are not the 40%. The majority must reassert itself before it's too late. We desperately need opposition parties to stand together, and we need to elect a government which will truly represent out real values and potential and soft power as a nation.

I agree. The UK's current position is an embarrassment to many of us.

I went to a lecture in the mid 1990s, "Is democracy good for a dictator?" . The conclusion was "yes". The UK's FPTP "democracy" does not help.

[pquinn]

ElectricSoup said:

Exactly. It's all such bed wetting insecurity. Which is all Brexit was in the first place (in utter contrast to the reality of things which was that our EU membership actually enhanced our status and influence on the world stage, we were drivers of EU policy and direction), which itself then triggered this landslide of nationalist vomit and doggerel.

Abject humililation. Embarrassing. We stand dimished in the world, and the current clownshow government seems hell bent on making it worse, so that they can maintain their 40% support - which is sufficient, under our appalling electroal system, to deliver them majority government in seeming perpetuity. Our Democracy is under attack and our counstitution and instituions are too weak to do anything about it. That which made us unique and powerful has been stripped away by nationalism to reveal an insecure, nasty,spiteful little nation.

We are not this country. We are not the 40%. The majority must reassert itself before it's too late. We desperately need opposition parties to stand together, and we need to elect a government which will truly represent out real values and potential and soft power as a nation.

Just as mental as the OBAN lot.

[ntiz]

ElectricSoup said:

Exactly. It's all such bed wetting insecurity. Which is all Brexit was in the first place (in utter contrast to the reality of things which was that our EU membership actually enhanced our status and influence on the world stage, we were drivers of EU policy and direction), which itself then triggered this landslide of nationalist vomit and doggerel.

Abject humililation. Embarrassing. We stand dimished in the world, and the current clownshow government seems hell bent on making it worse, so that they can maintain their 40% support - which is sufficient, under our appalling electroal system, to deliver them majority government in seeming perpetuity. Our Democracy is under attack and our counstitution and instituions are too weak to do anything about it. That which made us unique and powerful has been stripped away by nationalism to reveal an insecure, nasty,spiteful little nation.

We are not this country. We are not the 40%. The majority must reassert itself before it's too late. We desperately need opposition parties to stand together, and we need to elect a government which will truly represent out real values and potential and soft power as a nation.

Satire?

[Unknown_User]

ElectricSoup said:

Exactly. It's all such bed wetting insecurity. Which is all Brexit was in the first place (in utter contrast to the reality of things which was that our EU membership actually enhanced our status and influence on the world stage, we were drivers of EU policy and direction), which itself then triggered this landslide of nationalist vomit and doggerel.

Abject humililation. Embarrassing. We stand dimished in the world, and the current clownshow government seems hell bent on making it worse, so that they can maintain their 40% support - which is sufficient, under our appalling electroal system, to deliver them majority government in seeming perpetuity. Our Democracy is under attack and our counstitution and instituions are too weak to do anything about it. That which made us unique and powerful has been stripped away by nationalism to reveal an insecure, nasty,spiteful little nation.

We are not this country. We are not the 40%. The majority must reassert itself before it's too late. We desperately need opposition parties to stand together, and we need to elect a government which will truly represent out real values and potential and soft power as a nation.

Good post.

[bmwmike]

ElectricSoup said:

Exactly. It's all such bed wetting insecurity. Which is all Brexit was in the first place (in utter contrast to the reality of things which was that our EU membership actually enhanced our status and influence on the world stage, we were drivers of EU policy and direction), which itself then triggered this landslide of nationalist vomit and doggerel.

Abject humililation. Embarrassing. We stand dimished in the world, and the current clownshow government seems hell bent on making it worse, so that they can maintain their 40% support - which is sufficient, under our appalling electroal system, to deliver them majority government in seeming perpetuity. Our Democracy is under attack and our counstitution and instituions are too weak to do anything about it. That which made us unique and powerful has been stripped away by nationalism to reveal an insecure, nasty,spiteful little nation.

We are not this country. We are not the 40%. The majority must reassert itself before it's too late. We desperately need opposition parties to stand together, and we need to elect a government which will truly represent out real values and potential and soft power as a nation.

Yep, great post. And it gets worse https://www.thenational.scot/politics/19395612.tor... some american wants to have every one "who wants to" hang a portrait of the english queen in their homes and businesses. They can do that already can't they? If they, umm, wanted to.

[ATG]

There is an argument for an electoral pact at a GE in which all opposition parties stand on a manifesto of "reforming the electoral system and then immediately calling a new General Election". If we had a system that was more proportionate (perhaps like the system used for electing the Welsh Senedd ... incomprehensible but gives clear local representation and better proportional representation nationally) we would discourage tactical baloney that gets in the way of parties campaigning for what they actually believe in and stops people from voting for their genuinely preferred candidates and party. We'd end up with governments formed through negotiation and compromise. Most of the time that's exactly what you want; moderate, predictable administration. They might be able to start tackling long-term problems rather than always focussing on the electoral cycle.

[ElectricSoup]

ATG said:

There is an argument for an electoral pact at a GE in which all opposition parties stand on a manifesto of "reforming the electoral system and then immediately calling a new General Election". If we had a system that was more proportionate (perhaps like the system used for electing the Welsh Senedd ... incomprehensible but gives clear local representation and better proportional representation nationally) we would discourage tactical baloney that gets in the way of parties campaigning for what they actually believe in and stops people from voting for their genuinely preferred candidates and party. We'd end up with governments formed through negotiation and compromise. Most of the time that's exactly what you want; moderate, predictable administration. They might be able to start tackling long-term problems rather than always focussing on the electoral cycle.

Bullseye.

[MC Bodge]

ATG said:

There is an argument for an electoral pact at a GE in which all opposition parties stand on a manifesto of "reforming the electoral system and then immediately calling a new General Election". If we had a system that was more proportionate (perhaps like the system used for electing the Welsh Senedd ... incomprehensible but gives clear local representation and better proportional representation nationally) we would discourage tactical baloney that gets in the way of parties campaigning for what they actually believe in and stops people from voting for their genuinely preferred candidates and party. We'd end up with governments formed through negotiation and compromise. Most of the time that's exactly what you want; moderate, predictable administration. They might be able to start tackling long-term problems rather than always focussing on the electoral cycle.

Sadly, the thought terrifies the Conservatives and their supportive media. They point to Italy and Israel, rather than NZ, Germany and other northern European nations, to support their opposition to it.

Tony Blair was keen to change the system, but then won a landslide and colleagues, such as Jack Straw, prevented it happening.

[ATG]

bmwmike said:

Yep, great post. And it gets worse https://www.thenational.scot/politics/19395612.tor... some american wants to have every one "who wants to" hang a portrait of the english queen in their homes and businesses. They can do that already can't they? If they, umm, wanted to.

At the other end of the spectrum, and of similar silliness, the "speaker" of the Welsh Senedd effectively tried to ban anyone from displaying flags during on-line debates. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-57586... The Welsh have a cool flag. Who doesn't like a dragon? Who is offended by seeing one? And if someone wants to advertise that they are a tit by festooning themselves with pictures of corgis, flags, red white and blue bunting, then they should be encouraged to do so. It's helpful of them to make it so immediately obvious to the rest of us that they are massive tits.

[ElectricSoup]

MC Bodge said:

ATG said:

There is an argument for an electoral pact at a GE in which all opposition parties stand on a manifesto of "reforming the electoral system and then immediately calling a new General Election". If we had a system that was more proportionate (perhaps like the system used for electing the Welsh Senedd ... incomprehensible but gives clear local representation and better proportional representation nationally) we would discourage tactical baloney that gets in the way of parties campaigning for what they actually believe in and stops people from voting for their genuinely preferred candidates and party. We'd end up with governments formed through negotiation and compromise. Most of the time that's exactly what you want; moderate, predictable administration. They might be able to start tackling long-term problems rather than always focussing on the electoral cycle.

Sadly, the thought terrifies the Conservatives and their supportive media. They point to Italy and Israel, rather than NZ, Germany and other northern European nations, to support their opposition to it.

Tony Blair was keen to change the system, but then won a landslide and colleagues, such as Jack Straw, prevented it happening.

Yep. Labour and Tory complicit in this one. It's the main reason I've pretty much always voted Lib Dem, since the Lib/SDP Alliance days. In the case of Labout it's hard to understand. In a proportional system they'll pretty much always be a senior party in a power sharing coalition. But they eschew that for the occasional day in the sun as a majority party under FPTP. Which persistently delivers Tory majorities in Parliament with only 30-40% of the vote share.

[ATG]

ElectricSoup said:

MC Bodge said:

ATG said:

There is an argument for an electoral pact at a GE in which all opposition parties stand on a manifesto of "reforming the electoral system and then immediately calling a new General Election". If we had a system that was more proportionate (perhaps like the system used for electing the Welsh Senedd ... incomprehensible but gives clear local representation and better proportional representation nationally) we would discourage tactical baloney that gets in the way of parties campaigning for what they actually believe in and stops people from voting for their genuinely preferred candidates and party. We'd end up with governments formed through negotiation and compromise. Most of the time that's exactly what you want; moderate, predictable administration. They might be able to start tackling long-term problems rather than always focussing on the electoral cycle.

Sadly, the thought terrifies the Conservatives and their supportive media. They point to Italy and Israel, rather than NZ, Germany and other northern European nations, to support their opposition to it.

Tony Blair was keen to change the system, but then won a landslide and colleagues, such as Jack Straw, prevented it happening.

Yep. Labour and Tory complicit in this one. It's the main reason I've pretty much always voted Lib Dem, since the Lib/SDP Alliance days. In the case of Labout it's hard to understand. In a proportional system they'll pretty much always be a senior party in a power sharing coalition. But they eschew that for the occasional day in the sun as a majority party under FPTP. Which persistently delivers Tory majorities in Parliament with only 30-40% of the vote share.

Yes. You'd think the electoral maths was pretty obvious to Labour, but apparently not. Not yet at least. Maybe if we see a few more elections in which the nationalists in Wales and Scotland do well, the Lib Dems manage to get a few seats, so that the "progressive vote" (bad term, but you know what I mean) continues to be sufficiently divided that Labour are always stuck in opposition, then the penny will drop.

But the voices from their Left still seem to think that their recent manifestos were actually vote winners if only they'd been explained properly. I don't know what part of abject electoral failure they don't get.

[JagLover]

ntiz said:

This is unbelievably cringe.

But does bring up something I noticed whilst at an international school. Pretty much all of my mates would stand and sing the national anthem word perfect. People from all over the place. I laughed the first time it happened nearly got beaten up by every Italian in the house.

It’s kind of odd that we are kind of the odd ones out.

Little changes

Orwell said:

The really important fact about so many of the English intelligentsia…(is)…their severance from the common culture of the country…The English intelligentsia are Europeanised. They take their cooking from Paris and their opinions from Moscow… Any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during God Save the King than of stealing money from a poor box

Back when he said it the English were a fairly cultural homogenous lot. What unites us today?, that is the question. Say what you like about the Americans but at least they put some thought into how to create a national spirit among immigrants from a wide range of different countries.

[Biker 1]

bmwmike said:

Yep, great post. And it gets worse https://www.thenational.scot/politics/19395612.tor... some american wants to have every one "who wants to" hang a portrait of the english queen in their homes and businesses. They can do that already can't they? If they, umm, wanted to.

We had a portrait of her maj in one of our site toilet facilities for a while, until the floor rotted out, with catastrophic effects on the plumbing & walls. Sadly the picture & frame vanished into the sewage system.... Was a really posh reclaimed Victorian 'thrown' with brass fittings. Someone even spray painted the seat gold.

[MC Bodge]

JagLover said:

Little changes

Orwell said:

The really important fact about so many of the English intelligentsia…(is)…their severance from the common culture of the country…The English intelligentsia are Europeanised. They take their cooking from Paris and their opinions from Moscow… Any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during God Save the King than of stealing money from a poor box

Back when he said it the English were a fairly cultural homogenous lot. What unites us today?, that is the question. Say what you like about the Americans but at least they put some thought into how to create a national spirit among immigrants from a wide range of different countries.

To be fair, God Save the King/Queen is a terrible national anthem -tune and lyrics.

I'm happy to be "Europeanised". We are part of a large continent, with which many of us share a lot of common culture and interests with its people -despite some being of the belief that we have more in common with those in the US (we typically appear to have more in common with Canadians than the people of The US too)

[633Squadron]

Written by school kids
It is a bit of an ear worm
It has upset Nicola Sturgeon

[rscott]

633Squadron said:

Written by school kids
It is a bit of an ear worm
It has upset Nicola Sturgeon

Don't know why she's so upset - they won't be singing it in many Scottish schools today. Most broke up yesterday.

[Six Potter]

I reckon the song's a grower, I found myself singing it in the shower t'other day...