I can't help but feel optimistic as I realise I'm looking at a new British generation (note not English) emerging.
Stodge, I think that goes to the very heart of many peoples concerns about immigration in England: the fear that 'Englishness' is slowly disappearing from some areas.
Britishness has always been a bit more of a mix, and a bit harder to define, and it is therefore naturally a little easier to remould as a identity so it's inclusive of newcomers.
I imagine most (English) see change in major towns and cities (including places like new towns in the home counties, midlands and northern cities) Because it's highly noticeable, and rapid, they therefore become worried by it. They fear it might continue to the point where English is just one of many cultures in 'England', leading to the two disconnecting.
Whatever you think of immigration, I think it's hard to reject this outright as a legitimate concern, whether or not you feel it's warranted.
It doesn't bother me, CR. "Englishness" isn't something you can bottle, define or encase in amber. It is evolving and re-inventing itself all the time. Yes, it changes and some people don't like that but it always has changed and always will.
It's easy for some parties to speak to the fear of change and to those who for whatever reason don't understand or feel frightened by that change. I prefer to be more positive - parties which only emphasise the negative have very little of relevance to say about anything at all once you get past that.
From the link. Which I assume you haven't read, because otherwise your posting is very disingenuous.
"decided that as a publicity stunt we would drive up to the gates at Chequers and use it as a photo opportunity"
Hmmh. Big, unexpected, lorry drives up to the gates of Chequers. Police not happy. I wonder why?
However, Mr Adams said: “I then received a phone call from the police asking the lorry to stop and wait for us so we pulled over in Walton Court.”
Forty minutes later the police finally arrived and said the driver had an issue which his licence which meant he was not allowed to continue
Hmmh. Driving without a licence. Police not happy. I wonder why?
Mr Adams said: “I asked the police if I could take over driving the vehicle and they said no. I then said that there was another driver from the company 30 minutes away who could take over but again the officer said no.
I am assuming that Mr Adams would not be insured to drive a rented van. The last bit is the most tricky, but I assume the police believed there was a reasonable chance that either the original driver or Mr. Adams would choose to driver the lorry despite them not having the proper licence/insurance. And given he was (presumably) from the Chequers team he had better things to do than wait 30 mins (or more) for a new driver to arrive.
Where did it say anyone was driving without a license?
The idea that the expanded, seriously cheezed-off EU will pass a bunch of provisions nearly everyone disagrees with for nothing much in return is not serious.
Indeed so, which is why it was such a disaster that Blair and Brown conceded so much in Lisbon, for nothing in return. Still, we are where we are, and so the next best thing is to find a gun to point at the heads of our EU friends to encourage them to be reasonable. The best gun would be the threat of blowing up the desperately-needed restructuring of the Eurozone, and that might still be available to us, but for the moment they seem to have forgotten that they need to restructure the Eurozone. The second best gun is the one Cameron has loaded: the threat of the UK walking away.
Will it work? Dunno, but it's likely to be the only chance in a generation.
From the link. Which I assume you haven't read, because otherwise your posting is very disingenuous.
"decided that as a publicity stunt we would drive up to the gates at Chequers and use it as a photo opportunity"
Hmmh. Big, unexpected, lorry drives up to the gates of Chequers. Police not happy. I wonder why?
However, Mr Adams said: “I then received a phone call from the police asking the lorry to stop and wait for us so we pulled over in Walton Court.”
Forty minutes later the police finally arrived and said the driver had an issue which his licence which meant he was not allowed to continue
Hmmh. Driving without a licence. Police not happy. I wonder why?
Mr Adams said: “I asked the police if I could take over driving the vehicle and they said no. I then said that there was another driver from the company 30 minutes away who could take over but again the officer said no.
I am assuming that Mr Adams would not be insured to drive a rented van. The last bit is the most tricky, but I assume the police believed there was a reasonable chance that either the original driver or Mr. Adams would choose to driver the lorry despite them not having the proper licence/insurance. And given he was (presumably) from the Chequers team he had better things to do than wait 30 mins (or more) for a new driver to arrive.
Where did it say anyone was driving without a license?
The driver had an issue with his licence which meant he was not allowed to continue - i.e. his licence was not valid for whatever reason (I'd assume for the class of vehicle he was driving or something like that)
The idea that the expanded, seriously cheezed-off EU will pass a bunch of provisions nearly everyone disagrees with for nothing much in return is not serious.
Indeed so, which is why it was such a disaster that Blair and Brown conceded so much in Lisbon, for nothing in return. Still, we are where we are, and so the next best thing is to find a gun to point at the heads of our EU friends to encourage them to be reasonable. The best gun would be the threat of blowing up the desperately-needed restructuring of the Eurozone, and that might still be available to us, but for the moment they seem to have forgotten that they need to restructure the Eurozone. The second best gun is the one Cameron has loaded: the threat of the UK walking away.
Will it work? Dunno, but it's likely to be the only chance in a generation.
The two strategies you suggest don't seem to go well together. Setting the furniture on fire unless you get what you want may work, and threatening to leave the house may work, but setting the furniture on fire then threatening to leave the house and stop setting things on fire is unlikely to get the response you want.
It makes a lot more sense if you assume that this is a strategy designed for domestic consumption and optimized for the pre-election period, rather than designed to actually be an effective strategy after the election.
I can't help but feel optimistic as I realise I'm looking at a new British generation (note not English) emerging.
I imagine most (English) see change in major towns and cities (including places like new towns in the home counties, midlands and northern cities) Because it's highly noticeable, and rapid, they therefore become worried by it. They fear it might continue to the point where English is just one of many cultures in 'England', leading to the two disconnecting.
Whatever you think of immigration, I think it's hard to reject this outright as a legitimate concern, whether or not you feel it's warranted.
It doesn't bother me, CR. "Englishness" isn't something you can bottle, define or encase in amber. It is evolving and re-inventing itself all the time. Yes, it changes and some people don't like that but it always has changed and always will.
It's easy for some parties to speak to the fear of change and to those who for whatever reason don't understand or feel frightened by that change. I prefer to be more positive - parties which only emphasise the negative have very little of relevance to say about anything at all once you get past that.
I recognise that view, and that it doesn't bother you, and that you are comfortable with it. However, I would be wary of dismissing the opposing view. It's very easy to jump from saying it's hard to defining Englishness to say that it doesn't exist at all. There are those who may indeed say that, and they usually tend to be English themselves. I think I remember rcs1000 even going so far as to say he doesn't even think he's English, he thinks he's a Londoner.
The problem is that people jump to black & white on this. And virtually nothing in life is black & white. Englishness very definitely does exist. And if you do have concerns about the change (immigration brings) that doesn't mean you don't understand it either. There are most certainly common characteristics in the English, many of which do go back a long way - that I find much more noticeable when I reflect when overseas, and my (foreign born) wife has helped point out to me that I wouldn't know otherwise - and I also notice common characteristics in the English across all political divides. We don't generally notice it as it's so much a part of us we just discount it.
For the counterfactual, substitute 'French' or 'Scottish' into your statement on Englishness - it reads even more strangely. But sometimes, there are those who actually do that semi-deliberately because they actually don't *like* some of the characteristics and culture of English, and want to actively disassociate themselves from it.
If one does that, don't be surprised if the voters don't like you or vote for you very much.
Comments
It's easy for some parties to speak to the fear of change and to those who for whatever reason don't understand or feel frightened by that change. I prefer to be more positive - parties which only emphasise the negative have very little of relevance to say about anything at all once you get past that.
Will it work? Dunno, but it's likely to be the only chance in a generation.
It makes a lot more sense if you assume that this is a strategy designed for domestic consumption and optimized for the pre-election period, rather than designed to actually be an effective strategy after the election.
The problem is that people jump to black & white on this. And virtually nothing in life is black & white. Englishness very definitely does exist. And if you do have concerns about the change (immigration brings) that doesn't mean you don't understand it either. There are most certainly common characteristics in the English, many of which do go back a long way - that I find much more noticeable when I reflect when overseas, and my (foreign born) wife has helped point out to me that I wouldn't know otherwise - and I also notice common characteristics in the English across all political divides. We don't generally notice it as it's so much a part of us we just discount it.
For the counterfactual, substitute 'French' or 'Scottish' into your statement on Englishness - it reads even more strangely. But sometimes, there are those who actually do that semi-deliberately because they actually don't *like* some of the characteristics and culture of English, and want to actively disassociate themselves from it.
If one does that, don't be surprised if the voters don't like you or vote for you very much.