Great article and appreciated the succinct summary of Starkey's worldview which he has articulated across multiple channels (and hasn't had much traction due to his cancellation). One thought: is this worldview able to accommodate non white ango-saxon-norman-huguenot-irish people into Englishness or would their participation in a national identity be limited to Britishness? Home nations are at pains to include (in my view fundamentally incompatible and anti-british) minority individuals into their identities, primarily through Celtic languages (Welsh language) and clothing traditions (Sikh/Muslim tartan kilts). How could we do the same for England where the cultural distinction is less apparent? I fir one would welcome participating in it myself...
Thanks Silas, very much appreciated. It's a good question. Starkey is so insightful. It seems to me that this idea of 'bi-culturalism' holds out that possibility. There is, for him and I think I would agree with him, an overlap between Englishness and Britishness. He sometimes, a little provocatively, talks about the other identities a little disparagingly as being subsumed into a Greater England. This is both of their great strengths - their capacity to accommodate another identity. But they are also at a disadvantage in as far as they are lacking a strong sense of what they stand for today. Which is perhaps why multiculturalism is all conquering.
We could settle that if only the Danes would accept a two-state solution 🤣🤣
Really enjoyed this and your other articles.
Thanks Niall. Good encouragement!
Great article and appreciated the succinct summary of Starkey's worldview which he has articulated across multiple channels (and hasn't had much traction due to his cancellation). One thought: is this worldview able to accommodate non white ango-saxon-norman-huguenot-irish people into Englishness or would their participation in a national identity be limited to Britishness? Home nations are at pains to include (in my view fundamentally incompatible and anti-british) minority individuals into their identities, primarily through Celtic languages (Welsh language) and clothing traditions (Sikh/Muslim tartan kilts). How could we do the same for England where the cultural distinction is less apparent? I fir one would welcome participating in it myself...
Thanks Silas, very much appreciated. It's a good question. Starkey is so insightful. It seems to me that this idea of 'bi-culturalism' holds out that possibility. There is, for him and I think I would agree with him, an overlap between Englishness and Britishness. He sometimes, a little provocatively, talks about the other identities a little disparagingly as being subsumed into a Greater England. This is both of their great strengths - their capacity to accommodate another identity. But they are also at a disadvantage in as far as they are lacking a strong sense of what they stand for today. Which is perhaps why multiculturalism is all conquering.