Young people not so proud of being English

weaviemx5

That article/programme was 18 years ago.  Has anything changed with regards to nationalists commandeering the English flag in their pursuit for 'Britishness' and aggression (or "freedom of speech" as they all seem be screaming about at the moment)?

Kev Greenhalgh

And proud.....With a German goalkeeper as an avatar. Supports a football team owned by Arabs, that's managed by a Spaniard while typing this on a keyboard designed in Japan and manufactured in China on a Korean TV.......... I don't know what all the fuss is about.                                                                        

Sonic67

No. So Jack Straw can apologise if he wants.

I love this though.

Home Secretary Jack Straw says the English had used their "propensity to violence to subjugate Ireland, Wales and Scotland"

Richard Weight, author:

"Straw's claim that the English were an innately aggressive people was not only tactless, as it was profoundly ahistorical, pandering as it did to the myth that the Scots and Welsh had been the victims of an English empire rather than partners in a British one."

dms

Whilst shopping last night at sainsburys online the first hit for "nuts" was the st George flag....

Personally I think being overtly  proud of England or the UK has had a a nasty image for a very long time and it started with hooliganism and the national front in my experience.  It's a real shame probably made worse by British reserve and many not wanting to celebrate the good.

Sadly I've met people 70plus who believe the British empire will make a return post Brexit and the commonwealth countries are will be our lackeys.

As a kid I remember the National front doing door to door to my house and trying to convince my European parents (with thick accents) to sign up.  It's weird how my white (yes i think that matters here) parents never suffered racists attacks from the end of the 60s until Brexit.

So I can see why the old think we're past it and the youth aren't proud.  Maybe they need another war or world cup!

weaviemx5

I’m not sure what Straw is supposed to apologise for? As far as I can see, there seem to be more and more English/British ‘Patriot’ groups across social media today and most of them, laughably, see the scum Tommy’s Robinson as some kind of beacon of light!

Cliff

No, I meant the few days where a flag representing the posters IP address was shown.

krish

Yeah but wouldn't be surprised if he was one of those having a fit over it

nabby

Any different to what William Hague, that well known leftie, was saying in the same article?

As for avatars showing the St George's flag, I'm sure there must be members who have that showing now, so perhaps their insight would be more relevant to attitudes today. Unless your own avatar showing the Union Flag is attracting similar accusation to those you received a few years ago...

Edit: @justincase has a St George's flag showing on his avatar...

tapzilla2k

Well I did an Ancestry DNA test a few months ago -
Great Britain 54% (primarily concentrated in the South East of England)

Europe West 25%

Europe East 7%

Ireland/Scotland Wales 5%

Low confidence regions

Iberian Peninsula 4%

Scandinavia 3%

Finland/Northwest Russia 1%

Europe South 1%

I feel English, but my genetics is a mixed bag.

Sonic67

His words.

Where has been the rise of right wing parties in this country? It happened in the 30s across Europe. We've never seen that happen here.
You are going off keyboard warriors on social media?

You need to burst your media bubble.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3n9yf0D5WxRZJGclBMtFGwK/five-ways-to-burst-your-social-media-bubble