It’s been a while since I wrote a letter to the Shropshire Star. This one was published in tonight’s Shropshire Star. It’s the letter that sparked this debate on whether the CEP considers itself as “nationalist”.
It’s not too late to hear out English nationalists
It’s a little late for John Denham to be worrying about the emergence of white supremacists in England when he has served in a British government that has deliberately ignored moderate English nationalists for the last decade.
The effect of which has been the emergence of groups like the English and Welsh Defence League.
I have no interest in ethnic nationalism. But I really must point out that independent observers have said that the violence at the English and Welsh Defence League protests in Birmingham has been largely instigated by the thugs from Unite Against Fascism.
If the Government had spent the decade listening to the reasonable demands of ordinary people who want equal rights for English people instead of marginalising them, there would be no reason for white supremacist groups to exist.
We would have an English Parliament and English politicians elected by English people defending English interests, instead of anglophobic British nationalists at Westminster treating us like serfs.
John Denham and his colleagues have only themselves to blame for the emergence of racists like the English and Welsh Defence League because they are a product of their anti-English policies.
It’s not too late for the Government to engage with moderate English nationalists like the Campaign for an English Parliament and promote an inclusive English civic nationalism, but I suspect they will be too busy navel gazing to realise it.
Stuart Parr
Telford
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Stuart, why is it that so many English folks haven’t noticed what’s happening in England? When I lived there I noticed it but I was laughed at and told I was just paranoid because I supported Scottish independence.
I can’t understand why they don’t all speak up as it would halt the racist groups in their tracks too. Or is it that Westminster politicians want to see unrest on the streets of England?
September 18th, 2009 at 8:58 pmSubrosa,
September 20th, 2009 at 7:23 amof course they don’t want unrest in the streets, the sad fact is that the Westminster Village is full of people who don’t really know whats going on out there or don’t care or are village idiots. When I listen to their speeches, especially now in Conference Season, I realise they are not of this world.
You then have the politically correct on shows like Have I got news for you, the repeats of which on the channel DAVE from a couple of years ago make me cry with laughter, showing how little they know about anything.
Perhaps we need a revolution!
Cornwall Forward! an article on the UK democracy blog OurKingdom: http://www.opendemocracy.net/blog/ourkingdom/philip-hosking/2009/09/18/cornwall-forward
All comments welcome.
September 20th, 2009 at 1:16 pmPhil,
Do you see an English Parliament as a means to supporting greater autonomy for counties/shires/zones/areas such as Devon and Cornwall, or do you see it as a barrier to such greater autonomy?
If a means of supporting greater autonomy, do you support our campaign?
If a barrier to greater autonomy, is your intention to lobby against our campaign?
Or is it simply that you don’t have a website and so are using this site as a platform to express your views regardless of how unrelated they are to the topic currently discussed?
September 20th, 2009 at 4:10 pm‘Greater devolution needed to counter independence movements, say Lib Dems’
- Party calls for more powers to be devolved to the Scottish parliament and the Welsh assembly
The party backed calls to implement the findings of the Calman Commission to give more powers to Holyrood, and for Cardiff to take charge of areas including justice and policing.
At the party’s conference in Bournemouth, Liberal Democrat activists agreed there was an urgent need to tackle the “democratic deficit” in England as a result of devolution.
Senior MP Simon Hughes said reform was also needed to devolve power in England and to end the Barnett formula used to allocate funding to the different countries of the UK.
“People say this would pander to English nationalists. I would argue to the contrary: If we don’t deal with this issue then the BNP, and Ukip and the Tories may realise that there may be a benefit in playing up the English card, saying England is not getting a fair deal.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/sep/20/devolution-scotland-wales-liberal-democrats
September 20th, 2009 at 6:54 pmStudents will graduate owing tens of thousands of pounds and their debts could multiply as interest rates are charged, if proposals by the CBI’s higher education task force are adopted. It would take England towards the upper end of the scale in comparisons of the cost of being a student in different countries.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/student/article6842013.ece
September 21st, 2009 at 6:44 am