It's usual to post an introduction when 'one' starts a blog but I've never really been very good at conforming to Society's Rulebook. There's not really much you need to know either except that I hope this column will be much better value than The Guardian, which I am told by reputable sources is being 'propped up' by the Exchange & Mart. Or some such similar publication.
We live in interesting times. The blood of our forefathers has spilt over two Millenia to ensure freedom and independence for our England yet, with just a stroke of a pen, this Labour Government (led by Scots) has signed away those rights. And without a thought to the promises they made at the last election for a referendum because, of course, they know that they would lose. Perhaps Edward Longshanks was right.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that I am a Conservative either. There is little difference between the two main political parties and long gone are the days of Margaret Thatcher, arguably the greatest national leader of the 20th Century. Today, voting blue simply means getting rid of red which, although desirable, is hardly likely to result in much change.
Revolution is out of the question too; that is best left to the French. Or the Russians. The English don't (usually) do that. We prefer evolution; just ask Darwin. And it works, look at the world in which we live. It has been shaped by Simon de Montfort and William Shakespeare; Charles Babbage and Isambard Kingdom Brunel. "Ahh. but" say the Liberals "were these icons truly English?"
This misses the point entirely because the English are and always have been an amalgam of peoples. This nation was forged once and for all on a small field in France in 1415. If a descendant of yours fought there then you are English. Whether you appreciate that fact or not. England is not so much a place as a brand.
This blog represents a little piece of England, sometimes complaining about the state of things but not really doing much about it. Sometimes laughing at ourselves and others in equal measure. Sometimes drinking tea. But, and this is the critical point, it is a corner of some foreign field.
We live in interesting times. The blood of our forefathers has spilt over two Millenia to ensure freedom and independence for our England yet, with just a stroke of a pen, this Labour Government (led by Scots) has signed away those rights. And without a thought to the promises they made at the last election for a referendum because, of course, they know that they would lose. Perhaps Edward Longshanks was right.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that I am a Conservative either. There is little difference between the two main political parties and long gone are the days of Margaret Thatcher, arguably the greatest national leader of the 20th Century. Today, voting blue simply means getting rid of red which, although desirable, is hardly likely to result in much change.
Revolution is out of the question too; that is best left to the French. Or the Russians. The English don't (usually) do that. We prefer evolution; just ask Darwin. And it works, look at the world in which we live. It has been shaped by Simon de Montfort and William Shakespeare; Charles Babbage and Isambard Kingdom Brunel. "Ahh. but" say the Liberals "were these icons truly English?"
This misses the point entirely because the English are and always have been an amalgam of peoples. This nation was forged once and for all on a small field in France in 1415. If a descendant of yours fought there then you are English. Whether you appreciate that fact or not. England is not so much a place as a brand.
This blog represents a little piece of England, sometimes complaining about the state of things but not really doing much about it. Sometimes laughing at ourselves and others in equal measure. Sometimes drinking tea. But, and this is the critical point, it is a corner of some foreign field.
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