Labour should court A A Gill...

Well, we all suspected that it was the case, but for a NuLabour apparachik to so blatantly say it seems perverse.

Dear Correspondent,

Thank you for your email.

Neither the Labour Party nor the Labour Government are pursuing the policy towards England or the English that you claim.

England, as opposed to Britain, has an unfortunate history around the world and within the British Isles and please do not say that it is all past.

It is a fact that the right and extreme right in Britain cloak themselves in the English flag, the cross of St.George and claim to be the true representatives of the English.

Wherever there is hooligan behaviour, usually linked to extreme right-wing political groups e.g. at football matches here and abroad, it is the flag of St.George that is displayed and that, I would imagine, is the reason why the MP referred to this type of 'Englishness' as a threat to democracy.

Regards,

Terry White
Communications Unit
The Labour Party

NuLabour hates England and the English? Now who would have thought that a bunch of liberal meeja-loving handwringers would dislike their country so much?

What is it about the English, rather than the British, that is so "unfortunate", one wonders? Could it be the Crusades? Surely not, it was so very long ago. Many of NuLabour's big guns are Scottish; are they bitter about the Act of Union? Well, many Scots are, but that is usually because they have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. Are they talking about the British Empire?

I am one of those who believe that the British Empire actually brought as much good as it did bad. yes, there were brutalities, massacres, slavery, destruction. But there was the bringing of democracy, education, wealth, trade and, goddamit, the good bits of Britishness that are so eroded within the boundaries of our own shores today.

Surely, NuLabour would not be ashamed of so mighty an achievement? Surely they could not be consumed by unreasoning guilt? Surely they could not believe their gods, the Lefty columnists, and be utterly unable to assess for themselves? Perhaps someone would like to enlighten me?