English urged to reclaim national identity

Tuesday, 15 March 2005 12:00 AM

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett has called on the English to reclaim their sense of national identity.

In a lecture to the Institute of Public Policy Research yesterday, Mr Blunkett, said the sense of "Englishness" had to be seized back from nationalist groups in Britain.

He reflected on the way the Irish celebrate St Patrick's Day and said he was keen to see English people enjoying St George's Day in the same way.

Mr Blunkett said: "There is a real danger that if we simply neglect or talk down national identity - people's sense of common belonging and shared values - we risk creating a festering, resentful national identity, an identity based not on confidence but on grievance.

"Too often in the past, we on the British left have failed to offer a civic, open view of our national identity. We have let those on the right claim the patriotic mantle all for themselves."

Mr Blunkett complained that the sense of Englishness and the symbols that go with it had been "hijacked" by far right minorities.

He said their sense of "exclusive" identity was found on "myth and misrepresentation".

In its place, he argued: "We need to articulate a progressive account of Englishness, to champion Englishness, expressed through our history, culture, and civic values.

"It demands that we tell a more honest account of the distinctive English tradition and English history. The challenge is to recast Englishness and English identity, exploring its place within the Union and its relationship with Europe and the wider world.

"In doing so, we will enrich our understanding and sense of identity, and will be equipped to deal with the challenges we face."

The Sheffield-born MP cited landscape, writing, humour and democracy as distinct examples of what makes England quintessentially England.

St George's Day takes place on April 23.

His speech comes after Gordon Brown pressed for an end to the sense of guilt over the worst excesses of the Empire and its colonial past.

Mr Brown told the BBC last night the UK had to foster a "shared national purpose" and an identity as a nation if it was to beat off stiff economic competition from abroad.

"I think the days of Britain having to apologise for our history are over. I think we should celebrate much of our past rather than apologise for it and we should talk, rightly so, about British values," he said.

"If you look at the whole span of British history, it's time to emphasise that that is at the core of our history, that's at the core of our Britishness and it's such a potential influence on our future that I believe we should be talking about it more, not less."

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