The two gentlemen I’m going to write about today are easily recognisable with a little bit of searching, but I’m not going to mention their names. There’s no need to, I believe, to make the point I want to make. I’ve been thinking a lot about what it is to be English or British or a citizen of the UK. For this I’m going to wang on about being English, but I really mean all three. I think one of the issues we as English people have is that we feel like we don’t have a culture and therefore we sit uneasily in British sometimes. We seem to intrinsically understand what is is to be Scottish or Welsh or Northern Irish but we also, conversely, get a little confused about what it is to be English. I’m English. I was born in England, I support England sports teams wherever they may be and I have an English passport. Is that enough to make me English?
Our first gentleman. Born in Southampton in 1980. After education, he spent time as an investment banker. Is currently married with children and has never been divorced. He currently is an MP and was once the Prime Minister of the UK. He subscribes to a faith. And he loves football, in particular Southampton FC. A fine upstanding Englishman by all accounts.
Our second gentleman. Born in Tooting, London in 1970. After education, he spent time as a solicitor. Is currently married with children and has never been divorced. He was an MP before becoming Mayor of our capital city, London. He subscribes to a faith. And he loves football, in particular Liverpool FC. A fine upstanding Englishman by all accounts.
So these gents are pretty similar and I’ve deliberately written their mini biographies so visually it’s easy to compare them. Good family men with children, have religion in their lives, educated and doing important jobs and then going into politics, to try and help others I’m sure. And they bloody love football. Now tell me this is not what a God fearing Englishman should be? Go one, give me one good reason why they are not English?
And now let’s compare these Englishmen to me. Born in Northampton in 1984 (yes that makes me in my early 40’s, I know I look a lot younger than that, thank you. ) After education I spent time as a civil servant at the Foreign Office, now I’m the third generation Managing Director of my family business. I do not subscribe to a faith. I’m not married (never been divorced) and I don’t have any children. I’m not too bothered about football, but I do enjoy rugby union and cricket. Who’s more English, me or them?
Is there some nebulous thing that makes an Englishman English outside of what I have laid out upstairs? All of us are well educated, all of us have decent jobs / careers. All of us like what might be termed as English sports. They have a religion to guide them, I don’t. They are married with children, I am not married and I don’t have any ankle biters. Does that make them more English than me because they subscribe to religious values that perhaps I do not? Does having a spouse and children make them more English? Is there something inherently within me that makes me more English than them?
There is one difference and if you’ve recognised the biogs and worked out who the two fine upstanding Englishmen are, the big difference is that I’m white and both of those gentlemen are brown. Does that make me English and them not? What about if both of my parents are Caucasian but from America or Ireland or Australia or New Zealand, but I was born in England. Does that make me not English or something in between. I’d still be white, you wouldn’t be able to tell I wasn’t English because I’d have an English accent. So for all visual and auditory purposes, I’d be English. Right? So why do some consider the two gentlemen at the top not English? They were born here. They were educated here. They have jobs and pay taxes. They practice their faith here. They live here with their families. I think we know the reason… racism. Plain and simple. Here’s where a bottom feeding scumbag will wang on about integration and cultural clashes and I contend that who is not more integrated than someone who runs our capital city or runs our nation? How can they be more integrated?
So those two gents are English the same as me. Proud to be English and proud to contribute in any small way to this silly nation of four countries. And I’m proud to call them English as well.
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