Flags, fetes and fascism

When I first saw the photo on social media I thought it was a fake, a mock up created by some user in order to make a point about the slide of Britain into authoritarianism and outright fascism. But sadly, it was all too real. The photograph of Regent Street in the centre of London, literally wall to wall with union flags, like all of Northern Ireland’s orange flute bands had decided to launder their union jack themed bedding on the same day and hang it up to dry along one of London’s most important thoroughfares was no fake. This really is what parts of the UK look like in 2022, bedecked in a fetishistic flag shagging orgy of red white and blue.

The only thing distinguishing this from North Korea or Red Square is the absence of a parade of tanks and missile launchers and marching soldiers. There’s a fawning and sycophancy on the TV and in the press that would not be out of place in a dictatorship in the midst of a full-blown personality cult. A personality cult is precisely what it is, and while the UK is not a totalitarian dictatorship, it has already gone a long way down the road to authoritarianism and a failed democracy.

Tories on social media praised the display and suggested that there is nothing that is wrong with modern Britain that can’t be solved with more flags and even greater obsequiousness to the Royal family. This is 2022. In any self-respecting state the quasi-deification of an obscenely wealthy family of social parasites would be an embarrassment, but in modern Britain we are so far down the rabbit hole that it is considered the epitome of bad taste to discuss the fact that a 97 year old head of state is statistically unlikely to be around for much longer and to want to talk about ensuring that the office of head of state is in the future more representative and accountable to the people.

All this is taking place as photos are revealed showing Johnson partying during lockdown, photos which prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the Prime Law-Breaker repeatedly lied to Parliament. ITV News has obtained pictures of Boris Johnson drinking at a No10 party during lockdown in November 2020. The photos cast fresh doubt on the PM’s repeated claims he was unaware of rule-breaking in No10 during the pandemic. On a personal level these photos are deeply hurtful.

In November 2020 I was lying in a hospital bed, paralysed down the entire left side of my body after suffering a massive stroke. I did not know if I would ever walk again, or even be able to function on a most basic level, it was a truly terrifying experience, yet because of covid restrictions no visitors were allowed into the hospital.  I saw my husband just once, glimpsed from a first floor window as he stood waving in the rain in the car park below. I have never felt more alone or more afraid, and I was far from being the only person put through that dreadful terror. I accepted it, as others did, because we knew it was for the greater good. Other people died alone, without the comfort of loved ones. Families were unable to say a final farewell to their nearest and dearest. Yet as all this was going on,  Johnson was having a party in Downing Street, lying to us that we’re all in this together.

The police have fined some of those who were at the November party, meaning that the police consider it was an illegal party. However there has been no explanation from the police about why they didn’t fine Johnson, who was not only present, but who according to some reports had been the one who instigated the party. It only adds to the already strong impression that in Britain there is one rule for ordinary people and another for the rich and powerful. Johnson was asked specifically about this party in the Commons, but denied that there had been any party on the date this party took place. He lied to Parliament, but still his party won’t force him from office.

Douglas Ross has called on the Prime Law-Breaker to explain himself, but Douglas Ross has quite a bit of explaining of himself to do too. First he wanted Johnson to resign, then he didn’t, and now it looks like another U turn may be on the cards. Ross should just install himself in a revolving door, it would make all those about faces easier, and easier for Ross to decide which of his faces to present to the public that day.

But never mind any of that, we have flags, we have the Queen, we have jubilee pudding, we have a commemorative coin for William’s 40th birthday bearing an image of the Prince with rather more hair than he really has, and these things allegedly more than make up for the fact that callous deceit, cronyism, authoritarianism , a determination to avoid accountability, and contempt for the public are what pass for the governing principles of the modern Conservative party. That is what all those flags stand for, and that’s why so many of us look at the images of Regent Street and are sick to our stomachs. The modern UK is flags, fetes and fascism.

For the benefit of younger readers. It is important to remember that what is happening in UK now is not normal. It is not acceptable, and it must be resisted. I was born in 1962. Even though I remember all the misery and contempt for ordinary working people displayed during the Thatcher years, never have I seen such a serious threat to the rule of law, standards in public life, human rights and democracy itself as the danger that emanates from Johnson’s government. When the law does not apply to the lawmakers we are not being governed, we are being ruled over while democracy and justice are being overruled. I did not think it was possible to despise a politician more than I despised Thatcher, but Johnson has managed it.

Tory MP Michael Fabricant – he of the straw blonde wig that couldn’t look more fake if it was actually made out of real straw – took to Twitter to tell us how lovely all those flags on Regent Street were and to express his upset that people had the temerity to criticise a display of triumphal nationalism in a state whose government has contempt for the law and for truth and decency for looking ever so slightly fascist.

But this is British nationalism that we are talking about here after all, and has been mentioned previously on this blog on numerous occasions, the defining characteristic of Anglo-British nationalism is a refusal to acknowledge that it is in fact nationalist, so you can be certain that modern Anglo-British fascism will be equally in denial about its fascism. British fascism comes with fops in Savile Row suits and English public school accents, telling you that they will protect you from “the woke”, or from Europe, or from Scottish nationalism, or from migrants and asylum seekers, while they strip you of your rights, destroy democratic accountability, slash public services to the bone and enrich themselves and their cronies from public funds.

For some bizarre reason, and let’s face it just about everything to do with Michael Fabricant is bizarre, the Tory MP has taken to writing his name on Twitter in Russian, as Майкл Фабрикант, alongside his Ukrainian flag emoji. In Ukrainian it would be Михайло Фабрiкант. But then he probably thinks that he’s written his name in Ukrainian and just doesn’t know the difference. An inability to distinguish between foreign types is another defining characteristic of Anglo-British nationalism, just like an inability to distinguish between democracy and fascism.

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62 comments on “Flags, fetes and fascism

  1. James Mills says:

    I believe that the North Korea Government has approached the UK Government for lessons in public brainwashing .
    They have been referred to the Daily Mail and The Daily Express for advice and the BBC has been recommended as a suitable model for North Korean TV .

  2. Golfnut says:

    Those pictures don’t ‘ cast fresh doubts ‘ they are immutable proof that Johnson and his supporters are compulsive, inveterate and pathological liars.

  3. Every single person in the UK should be made to read your blogs. They are utterly brilliant and express what many of us feel but cannot put into words.

  4. exile says:

    Good morning Paul, I hope you’re keeping fine.

    When you were a baby, in 1963, Harold Macmillan stood down as Prime Minister and advised the unelected monarch that his successor should be the Earl of Home. So an electorate, in effect, of two people appointed an unelected Lord as Prime Minister. Home renounced his peerage, became Sir Alec Douglas Home, and after 20 days as a member of neither House, won a by-election to the Commons.

    Because the Conservative party now elects its leader, such a situation could not arise again. But this combination of of the power of an unelected hereditary head of state and an unelected parliamentary chamber illustrates that the UK is not a full democracy.

    An unelected hereditary monarch may not be a party-political figure, but is at the apex of the political system of the UK partial democracy.

  5. AAD says:

    You are a mere youngster, Paul, compared to me but like you I have never been so sickened in my life than with the present display of a*** licking going on in the media. This is a very rich, pampered woman who has made sure that her position has been protected since she became Queen. She is a woman who neglected her children by going on tours of her subjects in foreign countries for months at a time. Her children were left with servants. She ruined lives by insisting that the monarchy was protected at all times. Her eldest son is the same age as me but he could easily be from another century so old fashioned, short sighted and downright weird are his views. He should chum up with Jacob Rees-Mogg who has similar delusions.
    This family is supposed to embody the ‘virtues’ of society, religion and accepted morality yet the heir kept a bidey-in for years and has now forced her into one of the highest positions in the monarchy. Let’s not talk about the rest of her family.
    There is no place for such a parcel of rougues in any nation, let alone Scotland.
    This monarch has proved that the monarchy has no place in Britain. She does what she is told, even to having her son read out a heartless speech laying out what ‘her’ government is going to do (or not do, more like) in a country where the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. Why do we pay for this? We could just as well have a dressed up dummy sitting up there opening and closing its mouth.
    Enough. Let’s have a Scottish Republic.

  6. A keeper, Paul.
    I am aware that many Duggers, and indeed, millions of Scots, were brought up in a society where the Union Flag was considered to be the UK ‘national’ flag.

    Many on here were BB’s, Cubs, Girl Scouts, Scouts, and in some schools enlisted into army cadets units, or whatever.
    They swore, and still do, for all I know, allegiance to their Christian God the queen, and the Jack.

    Indeed recruits to England’s/ Britain’s three branches of the Armed Forces are required to pledge allegance to auld Liz as commander in chief, and revere the Union Flag.

    Some may call it totalitarian brainwashing.

    With just a scintilla of smug ‘don’t say I didn’t warn you’ , I have oft compared the modern displays of the butcher’s apron as akin to the swastika displays of Hitlers Third Reich.
    The Jack is the English Iron Heels Oligarchy’s swastika.
    Why can anyone doubt this?
    The Metro Police are showing worrying signs of morphing into Johnson’s Gestapo.

    I read of your terrible stressful time during lockdown, Paul.
    Thankfully you are still with us to plough an almost lonely furrow in the field of public journalism.

    My Everlovin’ and I are now in month 26 of Lockdown. We followed all the rules and guidance. My lady, and her siblings could not attend their mother’s funeral in Belfast..

    There are tens of millions on these islands who made sacrifices, and lost dear ones.

    But ‘let the bodies pile high’.

    Fire on ABBA disc on the turntable and crack open the Bollie and toast ‘capitalism and greed’, and celebrate the Big Con, hundreds of billions fleeced from the public for PPE and a Test and Trace that neither tested or traced.
    Lovely jubbly.

    Let no Brit Jock dare justify this ugly profane evil regime to me or mine.

    Just keep out of my face.
    Free in ’23.

    • deelsdugs says:

      Brilliant Jack. Paul too.
      My dear old auntie who had been 94 in the March, died alone in Ninewells, after covid nabbed her not long after she was introduced into a care home, nearly 2 years gone by.

      The met are in the pockets of queenie, they get their paid trips to balmoral after all, and the slobbery of the round, fnnafnna and gobstoppered gobs of his cronies.
      Despicable, greedy, orifices

  7. vivianoblivian7 says:

    There’s been a fair bit of polling on public attitudes to the monarchy of late.
    Excluding don’t knows.
    January, Ipsos Mori, England, monarchist margin of victory 50%
    February, Statista, UK, monarchist mov 44%
    May, FocalData, Scotland, monarchist mov 10%

    Want to have your monarchist friends, colleagues, relatives and neighbours question their beliefs?
    Ask the question; what was effete art critic and keeper of the Royal galleries Anthony Blunt doing in bombed out Germany in the summer of 45?
    Clue; the answer lies on Eaglesham moor on 10th May 41.
    Force your monarchist associates are to choose between the Windsors and Winston Churchill. Sit back and enjoy the cognitive dissonance.

    • I recall a comedian commenting on Young Wills’ History of Art choice of degree when he attended St Andrew’s
      The comedian quipped:
      The Heir to the Crown need only invite his tutor to the vast subterranean basement below Buck House where art treasures looted from the empire for centuries are stored, and submit this Aladdin’s Cave of bloody plunder as his year’s project work, which surely would have contributed towards an undoubted first year pass in The History of Art.

      They even insult our intelligence by positing that when Wills ascends the hrone that he will reside over a ‘bicycle monarchy’, like wot they have in Scandinavia and the Netherlands..that’ll be shining bright.
      King William on his retro BSA scooting down the Mall to open the English Parliament?

  8. The thing is though, most Scots are not British, so variably feel nothing for the union flag, through irritated by having it waved at them, to outright hostility to it being e.g. forced in their faces by bigots with orange sashes marching past and spitting at them.

    Flags don’t instil pride themselves and you can’t use them to do that. They mainly just reflect an identity; they don’t create or reinforce it.

    Union flags in Scotland are basically like Russian flags in Ukraine pre-war. Only a minority feel attached to it. Now Russia has used brute force to push its flag on Ukrainians against their will, they don’t feel more Russian, but quite the opposite. They’ll have gone from not minding the Russia flag, to despising what it stands for.

    That is the risk the British face if they try to force the union flag on Scots. You have to encourage people to your flag by making it attractive to them. That’s the only way to get followers. It’s a slow process that can’t be achieved overnight. The Scottish government are doing a decent job of rallying Scots behind the saltire, while the UK government has spend the past few decades working hard to put Scots off the union flag, and here we are.

  9. Dr Jim says:

    I was born in the 1940s and following the war Scotland was not fertile ground for British nationalism, had the SNP been at their current level then Scotland would most certainly have been Independent for a very long time by now

  10. Capella says:

    It’s remarkable how quickly their liberal values vanish like snaw aff a dyke whenever our oligarchs feel threatened. Freedom of speech, free press, free and fair elections, consent of the governed, equality before the law, property rights and observation of international law – all sacrificed for what? So that a minority of city spivs can make fortunes and stash their millions in secret, British governed, offshore accounts.

    Festooning Regent Street in Union Jacks isn’t going to cut it.

  11. Tam the Bam says:

    Be advised folks,Mhairi Black will feature on BBC POLITICS LIVE before 1pm on this very subject.

  12. Welsh_Siôn says:

    Am I alone in having had a wee smile at this?

    False alarm forces Elizabeth Line platforms to shut just hours after opening

    Paddington Station was evacuated just hours after the Elizabeth Line opened to the public for the first time.

    The £19 billion railway began its first service just after 6.30am, but just three hours later Paddington – one of its busiest stops – was cleared over a fire alert, a spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade said.

    They added it was a “false alarm”.

    Video footage from the scene shows crowds leaving the station, as a tannoy announcement says: “Due to a reported emergency, will all passengers leave the station immediately”.

    […]

    https://uk.yahoo.com/news/elizabeth-line-evacuated-paddington-station-opening-080623790.html

  13. rodwiddowson says:

    I’m a republican but surely even a pro royal person needs to ask them self: “Is it correct to ask a 90+ year old woman to celebrate her fathers death?”.

    This is not the anniversary of her coronation (a moment of celebration for royalists) but of the previous Monarch’s death – and the death of a man who (one assumes) was loved by his children.

    How would you fell like if people make you do that?

  14. Capella says:

    Prof Robertson points out the the BBC hides the facts of the rail strike in order to politicise the issue. Public services and wage rates are pretty political, I would say. But the BBC lies by omission when it isn’t lying by commission.

    However, with inflation at 9%, a 2,2% pay rise is a pay cut.

    Hiding the facts to politicise the dispute

    Theresa Coffey decided that pensions wouldn’t increase this year by the rate of inflation in September 2021 which has been the benchmark for years and was a Tory election promise to raise pensions by the highest metric. The rate was approx 8% but Theresa deemed that to be an anomaly. Inflation is now 9% and rising.

  15. indy2019 says:

    Thankfully, I can avoid exposure to much of this British nationalism/fascism as I don’t visit London, am not a member of the Orange Lodge and don’t watch the Imperial British Broadcaster (as I don’t pay the TV tax).

  16. Not-My-Real-Name says:

    I think we are all being trolled…..by Flags.

    A defunct non country going down the tubes…..people suffering food and heat poverty (and worse) while also being asked to celebrate a rich palace living old woman well past her sell by date in the position she holds via only by birthright ….and one who has never wanted for ANYTHING in her whole life…….same for t’other Royal spongers in her ever expanding family…..

    Have a party all you so called subjects…here’s some tax payers money from the council….to celebrate someone who has had a life of entitlement, a life TOO well lived for her own benefit over others …full of privilege and exempt from all of the hardships suffered by those she calls HER subjects……aka peasants….where’s yir curtsy or bow…..not ANOTHER (Royal) protocol …see it’s not only NI that has protocols thanks to you know who……also you are supposed to call her Ma’am rhymes with Spam, Bam, Damn and (at the) Ham….if thinking of words that rhyme with Andrew then one example is N*nce…best example and he is supposedly her favourite too….well thank God they won’t be asking God in THAT song they sing to save him ….maybe save him from himself….oh and perhaps singing it to ask God to save others from HIM……that might work….or not.

    So what are we celebrating then oh…..

    The best clothes, best homes aka palaces, best furniture, best food, best transport and overall living their BEST life…..perhaps THEY, the Royals, and SHE too should be celebrating getting away with all of this for so long while so many of those that they supposedly reign (Rain) over have had the opposite in their lives……BUT who are expected to wave their flags and sing a song asking God to save her …..and then expect in the future these same so called subjects to sing a song to save THEIR King (Her son and then her Grandson)………save from what….well not POVERTY….more like her so called subjects need saved from that…AND need saved from HER, her FAMILY and HER government.

    See yon so called Britain it’s ruled over and governed by people who ALL take the proverbial you know what (begins with the letter ‘P’) while some so called subjects who welcome their rule and governance seem to embrace it and in condoning it continuing are encouraging it to continue even longer to their own and very much OUR detriment….. Royalists are truly the Royal Jesters……cause I am laughing at them as are Royalty and the current regime we have in THEIR UK posing as a government……

    The only thing that needs saving and celebrating is a Scotland free from both her ,her family and ANY government in HER UK in Scotland becoming independent some day soon…… we can then be FAR from THE Madding (Maddening) Crowd of flag wavers who wave a flag of a non country…….disunited , dissolving , despairing, dangerous, dazed, desperate, dying, defunct, deplorable, divided, dejected, despondent, damaged and for some via celebrating THIS Jubilee also extremely delirious and delusional…….meanwhile on Planet Earth in Scotland many stand back and think ..No Thanks……we, in Scotland, are Better and Stronger as an independent country without your royal family or your crap governments….

    I used words that begin with the letter ‘D’ a lot in this comment ……but sure other words beginning with other letters would have fit in too….I am at the point of no return as far as my sanity is concerned with all of this…..but on a brighter note if nothing else all of this celebration, pomp and ceremony , uber gushing , worshipping and general madness infecting SOME …well it may just swing even MORE peeps in Scotland away from the Dark side and onto ours….all good as they say.

    First independence then……well….other decisions so to speak.

  17. Alex Clark says:

    There appears to be a coordinated effort going on by Unionists to target SNP government members on social media. It’s too big not to have been coordinated in some way, this kind of action just doesn’t look anything like some random people tweeting their disagreements with Scottish government policy. It’s more like an attempt to intimidate members of the Scottish government.

    The comments on this tweet from Kate Fornes are beyond belief considering what her message is, about. It’s pretty much how I would imagine supporters of a fascist government might behave.

    • Golfnut says:

      Don’t expect a drop in charges anytime soon, UK gov signed up to an exorbitant return for investors in Hinkley point due to open in 2026. How opportune are current events in providing cover for the exorbitant charges forecast for Hinkley.

      • Niall campbell morrison says:

        Correct, to get the reactor built they promised EDF nearly three time the then wholesale price for electricity. I have been wondering how they were going to sort it out without just handing a cheque to EDF each year. Now I know.

    • Tam the Bam says:

      Alex…I concur.

  18. Gregory Nunn says:

    The unfortunate reality everywhere is that “laws are for the little people”.
    A Republic, with a concise written constitution, limiting political terms and placing corruption and law breaking by politicians near to treason seems reasonable.

  19. Well said, Paul. This morning I discovered that a post of mine in the National had been deleted despite having already gathered considerable support. May have been something to do with my suggesting that among all the Union Jacks they should have included, as I did in German, the quote from over the gates of the two most notorious of the Nazi concentration camps, since, firstly, a great deal of the UK is sleep-walking into total Fascism, and secondly, that Johnson telling those already working more than one job and still not making ends meet, that they should work harder. Coming from a man who wouldn’t know hard work if it bit him on the bum, that to me smacked of that notorious slogan.

    Still don’t know why the post was deleted – Tory trolls complaining or the National legal bods thinking it too outspoken. However, this is the gist of it. I have been saying for several years now that the parallels between the UK under this government and the 1920’s/1930’s in Germany are becoming too great to be ignored. I may not live to see it since I am getting on a bit but I hope that Nicola Sturgeon’s international diplomacy will help us to get out of the UK before the Tories send the storm-troopers in.

  20. Whoocha.

    Now remember this artificially inflates the numbers who say ‘Scottish and British’ (and vice versa) because saying e.g. ‘Scottish not British’ is a negative. It’s an open rejection of British and could be interpreted as being ‘anti-English’ etc. Hence a large group of people tend to say ‘More Scottish than British’.

    The census is better as it doesn’t do this; you just state what you identify as, not what identity you are openly rejecting.

    In 2011, the numbers were:
    63% Scottish
    2% Scottish + other’ (but not British)
    18% Scottish + British

    For people who were in whole or in part Scottish.

    • And of course pretty much all Scots are British citizens, hence people who don’t nationally identify as British do say they are British because their passport says that.

      The new census is going to be interesting!

      • iusedtobeenglish says:

        Also you have those who identify as Scottish but are, ethnically, British. Neither I nor my offspring have a drop of Scottish blood in us – that I know of – and weren’t born here. Having predominantly English with a smattering of Welsh we are, ethnically, British.

        Perhaps ethnically-not-Scottish, self-ID as Scottish should have a tartan ctreated – like the Indian/Pakistani community seem to do for weddings!

    • New Statesman article here:

      https://archive.ph/aAFVN

      Why “Scottish” not “British” now leads in Scotland

      The usual caveats about British/English folks writing about Scots apply.

    • Hamish100 says:

      Unfortunately 62% in 2014 converted to 45% in the independence referendum.

      So maybe in reality 70%+ now will revert to a minimum of 51% in 2023/24

  21. Welsh_Siôn says:

    Looks a lot like my local Sainsbury’s, too.

  22. Tam the Bam says:

    Off Topic:

    Just heard on the news that last years Northern Ireland census shows the population at almost 2 million.
    Perhaps in a move not to ‘exacerbate’ the problem in forming a working government at Stormont..the population breakdown by ‘religion’figures are not to be released till later in the year.
    Interesting.

    • James says:

      It’s just the way that census data is released TBH, population data gets released first followed by equality data at a later date, same release format is being used for the England / Wales data and will be used for the Scottish data next year

      • Tam the Bam says:

        Current Scottish Census doesnt conclude till the end of this month I believe.

        • James says:

          Yea the cut of date got extended for a month, I imagine will see the headline data late summer next year, with the equality data late winter or early 2024

          • Tam the Bam says:

            …..and WHO exactly is privy to the data and safeguard to “Boris ” corruption pray tell?

  23. Hamish100 says:

    SGP “Just how many more mandates are they content to squander, as a matter of interest?”

    Actually mandates are not the issue it is convincing enough voters to support independence.

    This is made more difficult when so called pro independence bloggers sides with the tories and labour more often than not. They denigrate the FM and some are mysoginistic that they may come from a 1960’s labour branch meeting.
    To “Independence in Scotland” “Independence in Scotland ( imposter)”, “Felix” and “Anonymous” -as the 2% why did you not convince the voters just 3 weeks ago that your way is the only true way to salvation. The fact is you will not influence, the when and where of the referendum.
    Clutching at straws, unofficial polls or the referendum countdown clock ( lol) are the best you can do.
    What are your MP’s up to other than taking a wage. Go on, convince them you want by-elections to show your worth and we might take note. We might even take note when they attack the tories, labour, Lib Dem’s but won’t hold our breath for that.

    • Tam the Bam says:

      So far as I can make out Hamish…Mr Kellys forum is only populated by ONE (1) regular commenter….and it appears ‘Duggers’ are not likely to feature on his Christmas card list…:-)

  24. Alex Clark says:

    Peter Hitchens dreams of glories regained for an Independent England free from the constraints of the failing UK and whinging Celts so that England can be great again.

    • Dr Jim says:

      I’m so sick of English exceptionalist whinging about every other country in the world not liking them and still after their whole existence on this planet they can’t admit the reason is their own damn faulty behaviour, and if they were so *great* at everything why did every country they ever had a hand in kick the buggers out

      Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland are just the latest and last of a long list to boot them down the road, and you know what? they’ll still blame everybody else

      I hope their Queen stays alive for a very long time yet because I damn well don’t think I can tolerate about a years worth of their 24 hour 7 day and night media mourning over her passing

    • Bob Lamont says:

      All I gleaned from Hitchens’ soliloquy was Scotland’s perspectives and aspirations rebranded as those of England, the UK’s problems having been caused by somebody else, not London government.

      His “You can’t fire me, I quit” proposal will play well to the prejudices of both his audience and the GB-News viewer, his churlish jibe over “the look on Nicola Surgeon’s face…” will similarly appeal to the “subsidy sponger” brigade.

      I suspect Hitchens is pitching a face saving exercise in realisation the UK’s disintegration is now inevitable, this discussion only piling further public pressure on the abusive partner.

      Quite how he imagines England can avoid further splintering without addressing the iniquities of London governance is an even greater mystery than “glories regained”.

      Ultimately it’s the divorce which matters not who is attributed blame.

    • Capella says:

      I actually agree with him. Apart from the ritual abuse of the Celts, he is quite right to tell England to stop invading other people’s countries, that small nations manage their affairs better and it’s somebody else’s turn e.g. China.

      Their problem is, of course, that there never was a glorious English period. The Normans defeated the English in 1066 and they’ve been serfs ever since, and as long as they kowtow to the Americans, serfs they will remain.

  25. Statgeek says:

    I didn’t even know about it until I read it here, such is my detachment from UK news nowadays. It’s a wonderful feeling. 🙂

  26. Not-My-Real-Name says:

    @ Alex Clark @ 10.07pm on 24 May

    Someone from GB News calling Celts whinging is rich since the main source of output FROM GB News is them…..whinging….constantly.

    Pity Peter Htchens had not guested on Neil Oliver’s show as only recently he, Oliver, was whinging on about how proud he was to be…BRITISH……I suspect Hitchen’s argument is NOT one Oliver would want to address or be confronted with as it would then put Oliver in the uncomfortable position of having to actually pretend to DEFEND being a Proud Scot BUT….however also conceding that he is even more of a prouder BritNat…..i suspect Oliver’s allegiance to BritNatLand is mainly because his main source of income derives from companies controlled by England…..follow the Money….and England seems to many of them to be synonymous with Britain….. in THEIR eyes….and ours too.

    Funny how Hitchens highlights how he assumes Nicola Sturgeon would feel if England just left…but fails to highlight how any Unionist politician would feel if Scotland did the same, as in all those Unionist politicians who have, in the past and currently ,been pretty much doing their utmost financially and also via their constant campaigning….all in a combined effort for us to STAY in their (non) Union WITH Peter Hitchen’s ENGLAND.

    Perhaps Peter Hitchens romanticised version of HIS England is NOT the United great country he WANTS it to be as per the thoughts in his head….in reality there is very much a North/South divide in England and the huge disparity felt by those from the North of England in that they , in the past and now, are the ones who always feel left behind while seeing the South of England getting everything via investment and MORE attention from governments.

    I think Hitchens romantic version of an England in the 21st Century may fall at the first hurdlle as he is ignoring the sentiment of many in England who , unlike Hitchens, do not seek further isolation from other countries indeed many are STILL not , unlike Brexiteer Hitchens, over Brexit…..ironic also that a presenter ( use word loosely) who fronts a show on a channel called GB News does not defend the GB part but instead seems to paraphrase what Hitchens is saying by referring to other nations in HIS GB as being whinging Celts…..very interesting and revealing is it not….proving what we already knew that the GB part of their name is a misnomer …and Arlene Foster as a presenter on there also seems to be ignoring Northern Ireland’s inclusion as part of the UK and is instead batting for the GB part which only includes Scotland, Wales and England…..guess she, like Oliver, is a Proud Northern Irishwoman BUT….

    Note that Hitchens in this conversation does not elaborate on where and what England’s wealth derives from (relies on)…… now that might be MORE tricky to explain or rather elaborate upon ……considering much of their wealth for decades has derived from and relied upon a resource from one of the OTHER Celtic countries within his Union ….aka Scotland…und other resources too.

    I think many Scots are sick of people like Hitchens and others who constantly present us, Scotland, as the poor relations in his (non) Union yet seem to never actually address why that is……spell it out man…..is ANY BritNat or English nationalist like Hitchens ever going to define why they see us as the weak link in their (NON) Union financially……or is that particular point one they feel uncomfortable in addressing or even being confronted with…….or rather one where they would need to…as needs must to prove a non point….find them having to. …Do a Johnson…and LIE……

    • Welsh_Siôn says:

      This Anglo navel gazing whinge put me in mind of this – the white man’s burden transferred to the Anglo’s burden. Good for a smile, I think.

      • Not-My-Real-Name says:

        Yep all of those who are whinging about losing their Freedom of speech and being ‘cancelled’ and they do this while having a dominant presence in the ‘alternate’ media that platforms their opinions and indeed also via the MSM….while simultanously actively working to suppress the voices of others who disagree with them and thus literally cancelling or rather shutting down the validity or entitlement of others opinions being heard and thus having the right to their Freedom of speech…. or even being deemed credible against their faux contrived arguments……

        Laughable if it was not so hideous to both watch and listen to…..BBC via QT and Politics Live is doing it’s best to ensure THEIR, the whingers, Freedom of Speech is represented…I mean they regularly include both presenters and guests on their programme from GB News…..to keep the Tory ‘Culture war’ alive and kicking hoping those weak of mind feed off this non fact as THE most important issue today in THEIR UK…..

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