Gordon Browns British Day

[madein1978]

I want to know what you all think of this British Day idea? I for one think it's a great idea, It's about time we reclaimed our identity as Brits and called ourselves British again without fear of being labeled with the 'R' word. At least one member of the blairy bunch can do politics without being ruled by the PC leftie socialist scared to upset the minorities brigade. Your views please, and I don't want this to descend into a Racists Vs Immigrant Champions debacle!!

[Robert G]

Are they talking about a new public holiday? If so, please let it be any weekday except a Monday.

[newquizzer]

Celebrate it on Trafalgar Day, so you have a BOGOF!! It would also upset the French.

I was born in Republic of Ireland but consider myself British.

[Grunty]

We could take the opportunity to select a patron saint that people could identify with, and a national anthem that is more appropriate. Trafalgar Day would be suitable. I don't think the French would be particularly upset after 200 years - there are probably not many of them who remember the battle.

[Robert G]

What about Maurice Chevalier? Oh yes, 'e remebeurred eet well.

[noxlumos]

Hi, I've never been under the impression that it's politically incorrect to make a statement of your nationality.I'm left wing and I for one have no problem with you celebrating your cultural national identity however you wish, as long as it's done peacefully and it doesn't exclude anyone who has come to live in Britain.A national holiday sounds grand to me.

I'm from the north of Ireland for the record which I do not consider should be part of the UK,and you will always get a problematic situation amongst some Irish/Welsh/Scots who do not in their heart of hearts wish to be part of the UK however since I now live in England I'd be happy for you to celebrate who you are however you please.When in Rome....

[gary baldy]

Your question reveals your misunderstanding of many things.
You could argue that Brown is on the left of the party so that contadicts your assertion that:
"At least one member of the blairy bunch can do politics without being ruled by the PC leftie socialist"
Also the idea of creating public holidays has long been a socialist credo (just look at how many public holidays the French have!) and the creation of new public holiday was resisted by the Tories all through the 80s and early 90's.
A public holiday was proposed for May but was considered to close to the idea of the Soviet May Day.
The idea of a 'British Day" is a bit ludicrous because British identity is so complex. Why cant we just have a public holiday - why does it have be about something?
To identify with it an historical event like Trafalgar is also ridiculous because most British people have a better understanding of Pop Idol than they do of British history (how many of you honestly actually know what happened at Trafalgar?)

[Drusilla]

I may be mistaken, but wasn't the idea to turn Remembrance Sunday into British Day?

This is a unifying day in the British calendar because all communities have experienced suffering in warfare and Gordon Brown wanted to extend this, particularly as the number of people who actually remember the dreadful wars of the past century are diminishing with every passing year and he wanted to keep this day relevent to future generations.

Grunty, I saw a wonderful TV programme about St. George and it turns out he is much admired by Palestinians and to members of the Moslem community, so he could actually be seen as a more unifying force in our communities than had previously been thought possible. It would certainly make a change if an old British favourite could be seen in such a light.

[david small]

Remember I'm backing Briton? Well I think we should stand up and once more wave our flag and proclaim our nation itentity. never mind BBC speak. We are not racist for loving our country. Our heritage is something to be cherished and preserved, not disclaimed as being politically incorrect. Hogwash, proud to be British�.sometimes.

[jgs]

If England had it's own devolved Parliament and was on a level playing field with Scotland and Wales in this regard then a British Day would be good, but until then i'm afraid i don't think Britishness is worth celebrating.

Drusilla...with all due respect i don't think the Welsh or Scots think of St.George as "an old British favourite" and shouldn't imagine they'd ever want him as their British patron saint. As for whether the muslims would like it, quite frankly who cares? We worry too much about their likes and dislikes as it is.

[gary baldy]

Apparently St Georges mum was from Palestine!

[redhand]

britain is not england.British is a nationality includes scots ,welsh,and northern irish,and those who have obtained a british passport and who wish to live by the values of this country

[ianess]

How many English, Scottish, Welsh, or Northern Irish people actually consider themselves to be British above all else? Very few I would imagine. In my case I have an English father and a Scottish mother but because I live in Scotland it raises eyebrows when I say that I am British.
I'm all in favour of more public holidays but please can we have them in the warmer weather and not the middle of ****** winter.

[redhand]

British is a nationality.In northern ireland the union jack is flown,dispite efforts of blair and hain to have it removed because it might upsetr people wh consider themselves not British.This should not trouble either group what flag is flown .the scots welsh and northern irsh are more British than european

[redhand]

G.Brown is waffling .There are much more concerns for the government to deal with than a british day.Wonder is it to deflect flak from Kelly.All a bit of spin

[madein1978]

The only thing I will say in response to a lot of the answers I've been getting is that, while some people recognise Scotland and Wales as being part of Britain there are people, english people who will insist in making racist comments and remarks about Scottish people, why is it OK to do this to Scots, they don't get chastised or shot down in flames for it, but as soon as anything is said about Allah or Asians then they try to clap you in jail?? I know I said I didn't want anything about racism or immigrants, but I feel that this needed to be said. Its because of this attitude of being scared to speak out that we are losing our national identity, I do understand all of this issue, perhaps too well.

[madein1978]

I also happen to think that Gordon Brown will make a much better PM than Tony Blair. Tony Blair has proven himself time and again to make decisions based on what other people think, usually extremists, and proclaims it as being radical, this includes being got at by extreme greens, muslims, social workers, immigration lawyers and others with extreme views, oh and of course George Bush. I think Gordon Brown is different and won't yield to being bullied by these people and Britain might return to being an acceptable place to live, I think the 'British Day' idea is indicitive of this, he wants to reinstill a sense of british bulldog pride, the sort of thing that was around in the second world war. Of course I could be wrong, he could be another labourite full of 'radical' ideas and bull.

[madein1978]

Just reading, without naming names, saying things like people have a better understanding of pop idol than the battle of trafalgar, I find this rather condescending and somewhat pompous. In fact its rather arrogant, to assume we are all airheads who cant see past glitterati and showbiz, only teenagers and morons are interested in that sort of c**p. For the rest of us, of course we know what the battle of trafalgar was all about, books do still exist you know and some of us still read them.

[kick3m0n]

I'm not one for backing a totally independant Scotland or anything like that, but I consider myself Scottish, and only Scottish. Scotland is the country in which I was born, to two Scottish parents, therefore I am Scottish. I never think of myself as British, nor European. I don't really care one way or another if people want to celebrate some sort of British day, if they want to, why not? As long as it is done in a spirit of inclusion, not exclusion, then it couldn't do any harm, and maybe would do some good, who knows?

[Ian M]

The whole idea is an insult to the entire nation of Scotland. The Act of Union took power away from Scotland which as taken 300 years to get back. Anything that celebrates a union that was never entered into willinly is offensive to me, and I'm sure to at least 5 million others. This idea MUST be stopped.