Britishness: Perspectives on the British Question includes contributions from, amongst others, Arthur Aughey, Linda Colley, Robert Hazell, Charlie Jeffery, David Willetts, David Marquand and Bernard Crick, who passed away shortly after writing his contribution and to whom the book is dedicated.
The opening chapter 'Bursting with Skeletons': Britishness after Empire contains this passage on English nationalism by David Marquand:
English nationalism appears - I say 'appears' because I am not sure - to be a nationalism of the right. There are lots of reasons. One is that the English have been the top dogs in the United Kingdom, though they have been too modest and polite to draw attention to the fact, and their position in the pecking order of Brittanic nationalism is now in question. Postdevolution nationalism in England is faintly reminiscent of post-Soviet nationalism in Russia. It is a nationalism of relative decline: a nationalism of resentment.
Is David Marquand's characterisation of English nationalism as a nationalism of the right that is faintly reminiscent of Russian nationalism a fair one?
I think the English nationality was subsumed by the British one. And I think most ordinary, working class English folk thought the Scots and Welsh were in it with them. The last ten years has been a real eye-opener.
I voted 'no' but Marquand is not entirely wrong. I have met more than a few of a right wing bent that have fitted that description. But Marquand appears to be seeing only one side of the picture.
Maybe because that side are more visible and more vocal but I have met plenty of working class guys, who are never likely to express an opinion on an on-line blog, who have an un-articulated sense of grievance about the way that England is ignored in the Union but don't have the means to articulate it.
We need to give a voice to these people that the Marquands of this world can hear.
English nationalism is a fight for survival.
I agree with Maria about the subsuming of Englishness into Britishness.
English nationalism is the one thing the rest of the UK and the EU don't want the English to have.
They are more concerned about eradicating any kind of English nationalism, than anything else, so defining what it is, is fairly irrelevent.
One aspect of devolution which is rarely touched upon in accounts by London commentators is the battle between the devolutionist and centrist wings of the Labour Party in Wales and Scotland. The conflict between class solidarity and cultural identity goes back to the days of Keir Hardie; it’s in the DNA of the British Labour Party.
And that battle has been as bloody as any Labour/Nat turf war. If we get a referendum on part 4 of the 2006 GoW Act next year, then battle will recommence (well, it already has). You'll be able to get a grandstand seat, if you don't mind a bit of gore.
English Labourites have tended to be semi-detached from the debate and, apart from a few exceptions, haven’t developed much of a coherent post-devolution narrative of what it means to be English and British. Is this Marquand once again throwing down the gauntlet to the English left?
Marquand's previous forays into this arena have tended to be attempts to goad English nationalists, but I actually think he is making a challenge to the left now. It's perhaps dawned on him that English nationalists are reactionary (his word) because the left (and the mainstream parties in general) have ignored, or only paid lip-service to, what are justifiable English grievances. I think he'll be surprised, pleasantly, by Simon Lee's new book.
In all fairness, he is now admitting that he isn't sure that English nationalism is "of the right". To be honest, I really can't see why anyone would ever think that!
After all, "right-wing" nationalism (like the Russian nationalism he mentions) tends to be more imperial in nature, and so naturally tends to become British Nationalism.
English Nationalism is the polar opposite to that view, being rooted in a sense of self, place, community and fair play.
As Maria says, either we're all in it together, or we're not.
The people of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales (albeit only just in the latter) have voted that they are separate and distinct and that they wish to emphasise this difference rather than what we hold in common.
That is their right.
But they cannot be more Scottish, Irish or Welsh without us simultaneously becoming more English. These are the logical consequences of a process that we didn't start and we didn't ask for.
If the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish don't like the result of these changes then they should blame themselves, not the English. They were warned what Devolution would mean and chose to ignore that warning. The English are the innocent party in all this and yet we're the ones attracting the opprobrium.
I’m not sure whether we needed a vote to demonstrate that we were separate and distinct. In matters of Church, law, education, sport and culture we have long-standing separate arrangements. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland had different governance arrangements prior to 1997. In terms of cultural identity, I don’t think we’ve changed that much. It’s English people who tend to see 1997 as some great watershed.
Speaking as someone who is mostly Welsh with a touch of English, for good measure, I can say, from personal experience, that showing Welsh nationalism is far easier than showing English nationalism.
I have also found that there can be a sinister aspect to Welsh nationalism that does not exist in English nationalism. When in Wales I have heard people say you cannot be a true patriotic Welshman unless you hate the English. Well, that is xenophobic and just plain stupid. The irony there is that it is only when I show English nationalism that I get asked if that means I am racist, xenophobic or support the BNP (British and English getting fused as one AGAIN!) but there has never been a requirement to hate the Welsh, Scots, Irish or any other race to be a true patriotic and proud Englishman. There is a double standard here.
In my opinion, David's comments are quite inaccurate and unfair to the English. The English are far more tolerant and welcoming than they are given credit for. Being an English nationalist does not make you right-wing or a racist or anything so ridiculous. It just means you are proud of England and being English and I, for one, see nothing wrong with that. England seems to be the only nation on earth in which it is almost a crime to be patriotic and proud of your own nation.