Forget Nick Clegg, Billy Bragg is surely the greatest living Englishman. He writes today:
A poll published this week suggested that the English were the least patriotic people in Europe. Only one in 10 of those asked would happily fly the cross of St George. The remaining nine blamed fear of being called racist, and "political correctness", for their reluctance to show any national pride. Surely, however, these are just excuses. It's not "political correctness" or fear that inhibits our patriotism – it is the dark heart of English nationalism that makes us feel uneasy about flying the flag of St George, the same nationalism espoused by the British National Party.
Read the rest of this piece in The Daily Telegraph
Billy is currently campaigning against the BNP in Barking. He represents a stream of English radicalism that includes The Levellers, the Tolpuddle Martyrs and Thomas Paine. He remains, of course, a marvellous singer song writer. Here is the extraordinary moment in the 1980s when he performed Between the Wars live on Top of the Pops
Funny how often Billy Bragg's picture appears on the same page as Nick Griffin. Just a thought.
Posted by: Bingbongbilly | April 26, 2010 at 05:05 PM
Jim Rivers: cannot work this link but see it leads to Scotland Against Racism site. A fine campaign. Nobody suggests racism doesn not exist in Scotland but it has nothing to do with the SNP, as the party's non-white members/supporters would verify. To suggest that the movement for self determination/independence in Scotland is intrinsically racist is just another attempt at intimidation. Where the national liberation moments in colonised Africa/India racist? What about Eire in 1916, or Tibet today. Wanting to to wrest control of your own destiny from a larger polity is not racist. Neither is celebrating your own traditional culture and history - as long as it doesn't diss anyone else.
Posted by: joan mcalpine | April 25, 2010 at 06:51 PM
I love BB as much as anyone but he's wrong on this one, as you are. See http://www.scotlandagainstracism.com/onescotland/83.1.49.html
Posted by: Jim Rivers | April 25, 2010 at 04:51 PM
He told Channel 4 News: "There is a malfunction somewhere in the idea of an English national identity.
"I look at the BNP and I look at the SNP.
"The SNP is a progressive force. You don't see Alex Salmond standing around with a load of Scandanavian skinheads doing Nazi salutes. There's a real problem."
Posted by: syko | April 23, 2010 at 07:46 PM
TYPO APOLOGY Enthusiastic followers of this blog who read my post within the first ten minutes may have been alarmed by a typo. It suggested that Billy was campaigning for the BNP in Barking when of course it should have said against. It does now and I am sure anyone who chanced on this error would know it was a mistake. Billy is, famously, a tireless campaigner against fascism. Still, best to point out and say sorry...
Posted by: joanmcalpine | April 23, 2010 at 01:03 PM
Brought a tear and goosebumps, joan. will there a record with the words 'living wage' ever make the charts again? xx
Posted by: Dean Nelson | April 23, 2010 at 10:26 AM