I think the best thing I can contribute is a hymn that I wrote for the Gloucestershire Branch of The Royal Society of St. George’s Annual St. George’s Day Service in Gloucester Cathedral. The Service fills the Cathedral each year with representatives from many strands of English life. It was honoured with the presence of HRH The [...]

I suppose, as an Englishman, I share a generic mindset with any patriot of any country anywhere in the world. I’m driven by a deep sense of love of my country, a binding with it, a sense of identity with its very fabric and a longing for its commonweal and prosperity. Simultaneously, I feel a [...]

England is first the homeland of my birth, the land I grew up in, the land I love with a passion; indeed, if it were ever needed, the land I would die for. Why? Because England is my land, it is the land of my forefathers who lie buried beneath its soil, and have [...]

When anyone asks me: ‘Are you British?’ I want to say “No! I’m English.’ Why? Because I’m proud to be English. I’m also proud to be British, but first, I’m English. So what does being English mean? Yes, of course, you’re English if you are born in England, but not [...]

Ordinary English people have welcomed newcomers to their land for centuries - people looking for a better life who believed they would find it in England, and who, largely, have not been disappointed. In the early days, like every other Western country, immigration to England involved a two-way deal. On the one hand, newcomers accepted [...]