Englishness is something we should champion, not fear

Happy St. George’s Day! You might ask, what does that even mean? – if I said that to you. And my response to that would be: “exactly.”

But you know what? I’m proud to be English. Yes, I said it. I like living in England (well, London). I like our sense of humour, many of our institutions, the constant march of secularism, atheism and tolerance (occasional hiccups aside), the over-the-top drinking culture, and our utter mediocrity at most sports. Its not a perfect union but somehow it works. And its a better place to be than most of the world, which is why so many people want to visit and live here.

But most of us don’t know what Englishness means, let alone how to celebrate it. In fact we go out of our way to avoid talking about it. In the Labour shadow cabinet only Jon Cruddas even mentions it, and thinks he’s talking to a brick wall most of the time.

But Englishness is important, and more so if we want the UK to be a nation more at ease with growing racial and cultural diversity.

Let’s get a few misconceptions out of the way first. Ethnic minorities do not have an aversion to national identity; in fact they are more likely to call themselves British than even white Britons.

Secondly, while Englishness has some dated connotations with the far-right and seen by some as a racial than national identity, this isn’t set in stone. In fact Britishness too had similar connotations at one point and attitudes have moved on since. If we let Englishness to be championed only by the far-right, then the connotations will remain.

And thirdly, yes there is demand: three-quarters of the public want St George’s Day to be celebrated with as much enthusiasm as St Patrick’s Day.

But why even focus on this? Englishness isn’t even an issue on the door-step, many Labour and left activists will say. ‘It isn’t on people’s minds’.

But this is just not true. Englishness cuts through the heart of our national debate about immigration.

I find it frustrating when the Left and Labour party talk about immigration in economic terms – it dehumanises people and reduces them to their economic value. A debate about the impact of immigration is a debate about questions like: ‘will these people fit into our communities?’ / ‘will they care about this country as much as we do?’ and so on.

But without a social glue for our cultural and racial melting pot we don’t have a language to talk to one another. As I’ve said before, pictures of Amir Khan, Linford Christie, Kelly Holmes, Mark Ramprakash, Ashley Cole and others draping themselves in the Union flag have done far more to ease fears about immigration than any reports on the economic impact of immigration.

England has become one of the most tolerant and inclusive nations on the planet. We should be proud of this change. We should be proud of how far attitudes have changed and make that an integral part of our national identity.

People fly the English flag because they want to express their love for their country. What could possibly be wrong with that? I would just prefer the left played a part in shaping that identity to be a more progressive one.

So why Englishness and not Britishness? Because the former is easier to celebrate in popular culture and national sports. Britons increasingly see themselves as more English and we have to recognise that shift. In fact we should welcome that shift as a UK that has different identities as part of a stronger union.

The Labour party can either grapple with Englishness head-on and champion it, or it can pretend it is irrelevant and doesn’t exist. For far too long it has taken the easy option and opted for the latter route.

It’s time to come out and say, in our typically half-hearted jingoistic way: “I’m English and…you know what, I’m quite proud of that. Most of the time.”