by
Frank Hatton

He came into the supermarket in a place called Hyde, near the city of Manchester. He was wearing only a pair of socks. Obviously, he caused a considerable degree of interest from both the staff and other shoppers, the store manager approached and asked him what he thought he was doing, to which our friend replied, "I've come to do some shopping". After the staff refused to serve him, he indignantly said, "I'll take my custom elsewhere then". Now, while I will be the first to agree, that the guy was breaking the law by appearing in public with a pair of socks as his sole attire, he was nevertheless doing what he wanted to do at that time. True, it can also be said that he doubtless offended a number of people by his actions, but, he was willing to face any consequences that might arise from his desire to comply with the old adage, 'To thine ownself be true.'

Now, I don't know how it works on your side of the water, but, over here folk cannot take a driving test for a car until they reach the age of seventeen years, although a motor cycle test can be passed at sixteen years old. It seems that a young girl in North Wales, lied about her age and passed the test for a car at the tender age of twelve years,(she had probably had a hard life and looked older than she really was), and for the past fourteen years this young lass has been driving her car without anyone being inconvenienced or hurt by her deception. Just recently, she was somehow discovered to have deceived the authorities, and she has been taken to court, disqualified from driving, and sentenced to serve 120 hours of community service...... Now, OK, she shouldn't have done it, but, with criminals who rob, and sometimes mug elderly people, others are found in possession of illegal drugs, and quite a number of similar nasty crimes are more often than not let off with a caution, why on earth was the full majesty of the law used to pursue this young woman? Shouldn't she --as the magistrate himself suggested-- instead be congratulated for passing her test at such an early age? It might add to your appreciation of this story if I tell you that the newspaper reporter headed the column, 'Driving out crime'.

Now, I don't know about you, but, most mornings, my first function is to read the morning newspaper, (if my name is not in the obituary column, then I go down to breakfast). Now I really and truly do not look forward to this particular chore, but, somehow or other, I have come to regard it as a sort of duty. You see, and I think I may have mentioned this factor before, I am basically a coward, in that I mentally edit out all of the items of news which I feel will cause me to be angry, frustrated, belittled, and a host of other unwelcome feelings that I can do without. So, as the amount of what I would consider to be acceptable, or good news is very limited, the assimilation does not take too long. As always, there are exceptions to any rule, and this morning was a real beauty of an exception. There on page 10, was a glaring headline, ' Why can't we have the right to be English?'

Now, I must warn you, that dependant on your age, viewpoint, race, colour, religion, nationality, politics, and anything else you can think of, the following may be bad for your health. Folk of my generation who were children before World War II, were used to being English. We were brought up to call ourselves English. We lived in England, the language we spoke was English, and while the term 'British' or 'Britain' was used on occasion, it was mainly in association with things like the British Empire and the like. In 1939, it was England who declared war on Germany. The song we sang was 'There'll always be an England'. we knew Nelson's signal, at Trafalgar: 'England expects that every man this day will do his duty', and the words Shakespeare gave to John of Gaunt: "This blessed plot, this isle, this realm, this England". The word 'Britain' was hardly ever used to describe our country, and by now, I truly think you will have the drift of my thoughts. In this modern age in which we live, every other race, or people living here, in addition to calling themselves British, have the right to proclaim their identity and label themselves Scots, Welsh, Irish, Asian, Afro-Caribbean, and whatever other origin to which they can lay claim. But, if we say we are English and proud of it, we are in imminent danger of being reported to the Commission for Racial Equality as racists. It is taboo to talk specifically about the English culture, or praise the English way of life, because this is seen as an insult to the ethnic minorities who make up the British people. The thing that sparked off this reaction, is the decision of the British Broadcasting Corporation to indulge in a blatant act of censorship on a programme which gives ethnic groups the opportunity to proclaim its cultural identity. The programme, called 'Counterblast' is said by the BBC to give ordinary people the chance to express views which find no outlet elsewhere in the media. However, now that we have a factory worker due to appear on the programme to talk about the downtrodden English, the BBC has told him to tone down his comments, on the basis that for someone to insist that he/she is English as opposed to British, is a form of racism. The author of this piece of brilliant journalism in my daily newspaper, a is Mr Paul Johnson, who I gather is around the same age and outlook as myself, and I would like to bring forth a couple of other observations he makes. First, it was the English who produced Magna Carta, the first statute of the realm, in 1215. This wonderful document is the very basis of the system of justice and liberty which not only we, but the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and scores of other countries, our political offspring and our imitators have adopted. Second, it was the English Parliament that passed the Bill of Rights, the first specific formulation of political morality, more than a century before the French came up with 'the Rights of Man'. Third, the English, in 1649, were the first to assert the absolute paramount of the rule of law, and insist that even the state is subject to it, underlining the point by executing the embodiment of the state, King Charles 1. Fourth, we were the first to proclaim the freedom of the press in the noble words of the Areopagitica by our great epic poet, John Milton. Fifth, it was England, by virtue of the power of her Royal Navy, first created in the days of King Alfred the Great more than a thousand years ago, which began the process of proclaiming and then enforcing the freedom of the seas, the right of all nations to carry their goods and persons peacefully in all the seas and oceans of the world. Sixth, it was the a national agitation in England which led Parliament to outlaw the slave trade in 1807. Seventh, it was the English who, with sterling, produced the first stable, honest, and reliable currency, the model for all the others, the first fair and efficient financial instrument, in the exchequer, and the first example of an honest and disinterested civil service. Not even the Israelites, Greeks, or Romans can match this record of achievement in creating practices and institutions that are of crucial value to the world. So, if we want to call ourselves English, to insist that we are people in our own right, that we are English first, and British second, no one has more right than we do. We are remarkably self-effacing. We do not parade our Englishness. The facts of history speak for themselves. So in all probability, we will continue to put up with the pinpricks of life. We are big enough to bear them. We have our faults, but, there has never been anything petty about the English. I must confess that my Englishness has never felt so important to me for many years, but, when I read this mans words, my backbone straightened out, and my chest swelled with a pride I have not felt for a long, long, time.

Not often that I get up on my soapbox folks, but, I make no excuses, and it has certainly had a beneficial therapeutic effect which at this time, I sorely need.

'Til next time,
Frank Hatton

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