Latest news with #Englishness
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
Why Lionesses saying they're ‘proud to be English' could get them arrested in Keir Starmer's woke police state
IN the afterglow of shooting the Lionesses to Euros victory, striker Chloe Kelly told the watching world: 'I'm so proud to be English!' For a player from Scotland, 6 Hopefully Keir Starmer's new social media policing will not trouble our new net queen, hero goalie Hannah Hampton, who evoked her Englishness in a post-match interview Credit: Getty 6 In the afterglow of shooting the Lionesses to Euros victory, striker Chloe Kelly told the watching world: 'I'm so proud to be English!' Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 6 As Chloe and Hanna showed rare public pride in England — it was a striking moment in today's cautious national climate Credit: Getty Here in England it sparked a social media frenzy. Some half-jokingly wondered whether such publicly avowed patriotism would elicit a knock on the door from cops. One X user posted a picture of officers on a door camera with the caption: 'Hi Posters were referencing the new elite police squad set up by the Home Office to summer of riots. As we see time and time again, expressing a love for England and displaying a So we shall watch and wait to see who gets caught up in this new net. Hopefully it wil not trouble our new net queen, hero goalie 'We've shown during this tournament that we can come back when we go a goal down, we have that grit, we've got English blood in us,' she told TV viewers. Most read in Football That two young women — part of a diverse team that reflects modern England — were happy to express pride in their homeland should be a wake-up call to our nation's elite, falling over themselves to praise This new flowering of Englishness comes in an era where it's become fashionable to talk the country down and smother it with colonial guilt. Chloe Kelly completes Lionesses' greatest comeback yet to retain Euros title Many on the metropolitan left in Britain have long had a sneering disdain for the emblems of the nation. In 2014, Dame Emily Thornberry's snobby tweet of a Medway home with England flags flying and a white van in the drive saw her resign from the then Labour Shadow Cabinet. The following year fellow Islington MP Jeremy Corbyn, who was then Labour's leader, failed to sing the National Anthem at a service to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Not only did it appear an affront to the memory of 'The Few' — those who had lost their lives in the history-defining conflict — it was also bad politics. This new flowering of Englishness comes in an era where it's become fashionable to talk the country down and smother it with colonial guilt Labour signalled that it was drifting away from its traditional, patriotic working-class base who loved their country, their flag, their monarchy and their football team. Sir Keir Starmer recognised Labour's patriotic deficit late in the day, the piping up about his pride in the nation and instigating the singing of the National Anthem at party conference. Later, Corbyn, now in the throes of setting up a new hard left party (don't expect it to have a Union Jack emblem), called singing God Save The King at Labour's annual get-together 'very, very odd'. Such sentiments drove away voters in the so-called 'red wall' constituencies in the north. Little wonder that as the Starmer project flounders, Reform UK — unafraid to fly the flag — have now found fertile ground in once Labour heartlands. English patriotism has long hid its light under a bushel — not helped by the St George Cross being adopted by far-right knuckle draggers like the English Defence League. Compare the comparably muted St George's Day celebrations to the green carnival of St Patrick's Day. In America, with a bloody history to rival Britain's, Old Glory is hung from garden flag poles across the land, whether the owner is Republican or Democrat. Some argue that our patriotic reserve is part of the essence of Englishness. Chloe and Hannah showed the world they were gutsy, skilled, confident, joyous — and proud to be English Yet, It was remarkable for being such a rarity in English public life. Former Government special adviser James Price wrote on X: 'I haven't heard anyone on telly say that about England in so long. 'For all the sneering from some quarters, that's just such a wonderful thing to hear. Much more of this please, in all kinds of arenas.' Much has been made of the British — as well as English — preoccupation with our victorious role in World War Two. Yet, standing alone against Nazi Germany — real fascists not someone misgendering you on social media — was a crowning achievement of the British Empire, with theatres of war in Africa and Asia as well as Europe. Swell with pride The number of red poppies displayed on St George flags is testimony to how important it remains to our national story. After the war — under Clement Attlee's Labour government — a sense of patriotic purpose and unity helped rebuild Britain. A shared togetherness can work wonders for the economy and the national mood. Remember Cool Britannia in the 1990s when the nation revelled in its identity? It was a soft power and financial winner. Everyone has their own sense of Englishness in a land that produced the likes of For some it's rolling moorlands of the Pennines and Cumbria , others might choose dining out on chicken tikka masala or dancing to dub reggae at the Notting Hill Carnival. Many will swell with pride re-watching the Queen . Read more on the Irish Sun Now the Lionesses have roared and added their story to our national identity. Chloe and Hannah showed the world they were gutsy, skilled, confident, joyous — and proud to be English. 6 Keir's Labour signalled that it was drifting away from its traditional, patriotic working-class base who loved their country, their flag, their monarchy and their football team Credit: AFP 6 Remember Cool Britannia in the 1990s when the nation revelled in its identity? It was a soft power and financial winner Credit: EPA 6 Englishness means different things to different people — from rolling moors to chicken tikka masala and the vibrant beats of Notting Hill Carnival Credit: Shutterstock
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
Why Lionesses saying they're ‘proud to be English' could get them arrested in Keir Starmer's woke police state
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) IN the afterglow of shooting the Lionesses to Euros victory, striker Chloe Kelly told the watching world: 'I'm so proud to be English!' For a player from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France or the US, a simple exclamation of national pride in their homeland nation would go unremarked. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 6 Hopefully Keir Starmer's new social media policing will not trouble our new net queen, hero goalie Hannah Hampton, who evoked her Englishness in a post-match interview Credit: Getty 6 In the afterglow of shooting the Lionesses to Euros victory, striker Chloe Kelly told the watching world: 'I'm so proud to be English!' Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 6 As Chloe and Hanna showed rare public pride in England — it was a striking moment in today's cautious national climate Credit: Getty Here in England it sparked a social media frenzy. Some half-jokingly wondered whether such publicly avowed patriotism would elicit a knock on the door from cops. One X user posted a picture of officers on a door camera with the caption: 'Hi Chloe Kelly, police here, we just need to speak to you about your nationalistic outburst.' Posters were referencing the new elite police squad set up by the Home Office to monitor anti-immigrant sentiment online, aimed to prevent a summer of riots. As we see time and time again, expressing a love for England and displaying a St George Cross flag can erroneously be interpreted by those who wish to divide us as Far Right rabble-rousing. So we shall watch and wait to see who gets caught up in this new net. Hopefully it wil not trouble our new net queen, hero goalie Hannah Hampton who also evoked her Englishness in a post-match interview. 'We've shown during this tournament that we can come back when we go a goal down, we have that grit, we've got English blood in us,' she told TV viewers. That two young women — part of a diverse team that reflects modern England — were happy to express pride in their homeland should be a wake-up call to our nation's elite, falling over themselves to praise Sarina Wiegman's aces since Sunday night's stunning win. This new flowering of Englishness comes in an era where it's become fashionable to talk the country down and smother it with colonial guilt. Chloe Kelly completes Lionesses' greatest comeback yet to retain Euros title Many on the metropolitan left in Britain have long had a sneering disdain for the emblems of the nation. In 2014, Dame Emily Thornberry's snobby tweet of a Medway home with England flags flying and a white van in the drive saw her resign from the then Labour Shadow Cabinet. The following year fellow Islington MP Jeremy Corbyn, who was then Labour's leader, failed to sing the National Anthem at a service to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Not only did it appear an affront to the memory of 'The Few' — those who had lost their lives in the history-defining conflict — it was also bad politics. This new flowering of Englishness comes in an era where it's become fashionable to talk the country down and smother it with colonial guilt Labour signalled that it was drifting away from its traditional, patriotic working-class base who loved their country, their flag, their monarchy and their football team. Sir Keir Starmer recognised Labour's patriotic deficit late in the day, the piping up about his pride in the nation and instigating the singing of the National Anthem at party conference. Later, Corbyn, now in the throes of setting up a new hard left party (don't expect it to have a Union Jack emblem), called singing God Save The King at Labour's annual get-together 'very, very odd'. Such sentiments drove away voters in the so-called 'red wall' constituencies in the north. Little wonder that as the Starmer project flounders, Reform UK — unafraid to fly the flag — have now found fertile ground in once Labour heartlands. English patriotism has long hid its light under a bushel — not helped by the St George Cross being adopted by far-right knuckle draggers like the English Defence League. Compare the comparably muted St George's Day celebrations to the green carnival of St Patrick's Day. In America, with a bloody history to rival Britain's, Old Glory is hung from garden flag poles across the land, whether the owner is Republican or Democrat. Some argue that our patriotic reserve is part of the essence of Englishness. Chloe and Hannah showed the world they were gutsy, skilled, confident, joyous — and proud to be English Yet, Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton wore their national pride on their sleeve. It was remarkable for being such a rarity in English public life. Former Government special adviser James Price wrote on X: 'I haven't heard anyone on telly say that about England in so long. 'For all the sneering from some quarters, that's just such a wonderful thing to hear. Much more of this please, in all kinds of arenas.' Much has been made of the British — as well as English — preoccupation with our victorious role in World War Two. Yet, standing alone against Nazi Germany — real fascists not someone misgendering you on social media — was a crowning achievement of the British Empire, with theatres of war in Africa and Asia as well as Europe. Swell with pride The number of red poppies displayed on St George flags is testimony to how important it remains to our national story. After the war — under Clement Attlee's Labour government — a sense of patriotic purpose and unity helped rebuild Britain. A shared togetherness can work wonders for the economy and the national mood. Remember Cool Britannia in the 1990s when the nation revelled in its identity? It was a soft power and financial winner. Everyone has their own sense of Englishness in a land that produced the likes of William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charles Darwin, Florence Nightingale, John Lennon, Agatha Christie and Sir Isaac Newton, to name but a few. For some it's rolling moorlands of the Pennines and Cumbria, others might choose dining out on chicken tikka masala or dancing to dub reggae at the Notting Hill Carnival. Many will swell with pride re-watching Bobby Moore wiping his muddied hands before accepting the World Cup from the Queen. Now the Lionesses have roared and added their story to our national identity. Chloe and Hannah showed the world they were gutsy, skilled, confident, joyous — and proud to be English. 6 Keir's Labour signalled that it was drifting away from its traditional, patriotic working-class base who loved their country, their flag, their monarchy and their football team Credit: AFP 6 Remember Cool Britannia in the 1990s when the nation revelled in its identity? It was a soft power and financial winner Credit: EPA
New Statesman
10 hours ago
- Sport
- New Statesman
The Lionesses make it cool to be English
Photo by Sebastien Bozon / AFP The football world underestimated Chloe Kelly. In January, the snappy 27-year-old winger was dropped from the Lionesses, having been sidelined by Manchester City. But after finishing her season on an auspicious loan to Arsenal, Kelly found herself back in the Lionesses squad: the outcome of England's Euros campaign would likely have ended quite differently without her. Stepping up to the box as the final Lioness in the edgy penalty shoot-out against Spain, with her signature gazelle-like run up, Kelly netted her shot: England are European champions once again. In an interview following her victory, Kelly told the BBC: 'I'm so grateful to wear the badge…I'm so proud to be English'. This is a rare statement. Englishness and all that it represents has, for a long time, become polarised: associated with thuggery, violence and in some instances, racism. In 2014, when Emily Thornberry, then a cabinet minister under Ed Miliband, posted a photo on Twitter of a house adorned with Saint George's flags with the caption 'Image from #Rochester', she lost her job. Ten years on, and the popularity of the Lionesses – and Kelly's own public pride in her own national identity – has shifted something. The team and their successive victories have made way for a new, softer form of Englishness. Women's football games are often frequented by young children and their parents (both boys and girls), who find the whole atmosphere of the game more fulfilling and less frightening. Fans support shirts with 'Bronze', 'Russo' or 'Williamson' emblazoned across their shoulders. The Lionesses have used their influence to call for equal access to football in schools for young girls and, as many women's players are openly gay or bisexual, the team has ushered in a new, more inclusive space where England fans can embrace their identity without fear of aggression or judgement. (There is only one openly gay player in the Three Lions squad). This arrives at a tense moment for wider conversations around English identity. Figures like the podcaster Konstantin Kisin or academic Matt Goodwin argue for the existence of 'ethnic Englishness'. The Lionesses victory and its reception proves how far from the country's sense of feeling this assessment is. Arsenal's Michelle Agyemang was by far one of the most popular players with fans and pundits. The 19-year-old forward won Young Player of the Tournament. Agyemang is of Ghanaian descent, but she was born in Essex and started playing for The Gunners aged six. There is no doubt that Lioness fans would see her anything other than English; even the suggestion would likely have never even crossed their minds. Last night, England's pubs were full of young people with red crosses painted across their cheeks, draped in red and white flags and proudly sporting the Three Lions badge. This is the England Gareth Southgate wanted: calm, inclusive, proud. That it has arrived via the success of a Dutch-led (the Lionesses' head coach is former Netherland's player Sarina Wiegman) women's team is perhaps the way it had to happen. This is the Lionesses English vibe-shift: it's cool to say you're proud to be English. [See more: The landlord stranglehold] Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Related
Spectator
3 days ago
- Science
- Spectator
Is this CS Lewis' most prescient work?
It's been 80 years since CS Lewis' remarkably prescient, That Hideous Strength, was published. The final book in a sci-fi trilogy, the novel recounts the battle for the soul of humanity in the heart of England. Even in 1945, George Orwell saw that: 'Plenty of people in our age do entertain the monstrous dreams of power that Mr Lewis attributes to his characters [the NICE scientists], and we are within sight of the time when such dreams will be realisable.' Little did he realise how soon his fears would play out. That Hideous Strength focuses around the National Institute of Coordinated Experiments (NICE), which aims to bring Britain under the rule of Science, beginning the process of transforming the human race into an inorganic species governed by a single, immortal leader. 'The human race is to become all Technocracy,' NICE high-up Professor Augustus Frost explains to recruit Mark Studdock. The plans include the sterilisation and selective breeding of the population, with indoctrination achieved through biochemical conditioning and the 'direct manipulation of the brain'. Ultimately, organic life is to be abolished: the new humans will be formed of chemicals and live on a 'clean' planet divested of vegetation. Crucially, without sex, man 'will finally become governable'. Eighty years on, the story reads like a fictional exploration of transhumanism and current technologies, from chips in the brain to global digital systems for identification and travel. A mysterious figure – part Arthurian, part Christ-like – leads the fight for an alternative future rooted in spiritual enlightenment and a wholesome kind of Englishness. Like The Chronicles of Narnia, That Hideous Strength is a classic tale of Good vs Evil but, as its subtitle A Modern Fairy-Tale for Grown-Ups suggests, it's also a sober exploration of the direction 'scientific progress' is taking us. NICE leaders choose Edgestow as the place to begin the takeover, where the 'progressive element' of the nearby university makes for easy pickings. The fellows nod through the sale of some college land while the faculty serves as a 'recruiting office' for the institute. Their prize recruit is Mark, a 'sociologist who can write', to produce newspaper articles to persuade the British public that change is necessary. 'It's the educated reader who CAN be gulled,' explains Lord Feverstone, a figure working with both government and NICE. 'When did you meet a workman who believes the papers? He takes it for granted that they're all propaganda and skips the leading articles…But the educated public, the people who read the high-brow weeklies, don't need reconditioning. They're all right already. They'll believe anything.' Deception will only be needed in the early stages: 'Once the thing gets going we shan't have to bother about the great heart of the British public'. And sure enough, NICE's private police force are soon terrorising the people of Edgestow. The signs the takeover is well underway have a curiously contemporary ring. Edgestow is home to a new population of imported workmen, prices have risen and the hotels have somehow passed into hands of NICE. A dense fog blankets the heart of England. Riots are engineered to get the powers justified by a state of emergency. The propaganda aimed at the working man is successful: in the pubs the locals blame the Welsh and Irish for the state of things. Lured into NICE by the prospect of higher salary and status, corrupted by the need to please and belong, it takes the befuddled Mark a long time to understand what he's dealing with. Just as he finally realises his life is in danger, it emerges that NICE's aspirations are global. There is no point in attempting to flee to America, as the 'claws' of the institute are 'embedded in every country'. By this point, some readers will be nodding in wonderment at how Lewis, writing during the Second World War, could have foreseen our present situation with such accuracy. Others will see familiar plot elements as stemming from dystopian fiction's classic device of warning by way of exaggeration. Either way, the heart of the novel concerns choice. In the spiritual war playing out, a side must be taken and the last battle fought. There is no way to avoid confronting the 'hideous strength'. In this, the final book of the trilogy, it is ordinary English people who must make that choice. In the second, entitled Perelandra, Ransom, a venturesome Cambridge don who has travelled to Venus, is confronted with Unman, a kind of automated psychopath. Ransom attempts some typically English tactics: first talking his enemy, then ignoring him and finally running away. When Unman reappears, Ransom realises the only resolution is to kill him. But as a creature of dark, transhumanist forces, Unman cannot be destroyed by ordinary means. Ransom has to dig deep and it takes two goes, the first requiring physical courage and the second the psychological ability to face and overcome inner fears. On earth, the encounter with the hideous strengthpresents just two paths: follow the transhumanists or join The Resistance. Mark's wife Jane takes the latter path only after much hesitation and resisting the messages of her clairvoyant dreams. Lewis presents his heroine as a stereotypical woman of her times: hankering after independence while constrained by the conventional values of her society. Two moments of truth push Jane to join the community of the good based at a nearby manor house: her direct experience of evil when she is captured and tortured by NICE and her subsequent meeting with the community Director – a 'bright solar blend of king and lover and magician' – when she finds her world 'unmade'. Mark's moral journey is messier and more human. Even when confronted with the truth about NICE and offered sanctuary with The Resistance, he still can't quite make the right decision. Lewis captures the moral confusion of a weak character perfectly: 'he wanted to be perfectly safe and yet also very nonchalant and daring' while his mind was 'one fluid confusion of wounded vanity and jostling fears and shames'. All the while, Lewis studs the novel with details that convey the everyday quality of life on earth and the potential for goodness even in in times of evil. The horror of what is happening in Edgestow is counter-balanced with elements of English cosiness – just as in the depths of the Narnian winter, you can still have a good tea with Mr and Mrs Beaver. I won't ruin things with a spoiler – better to read the entire trilogy yourself. The reception of the book in 1945 may have been mixed, but this belated reviewer finds it brilliantly illuminating. That Hideous Strength has come into its time.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Yvette Cooper condemns Nigel Farage's criticisms of police
Yvette Cooper has condemned Reform UK for criticising the policing of protests outside a hotel for asylum seekers. The home secretary said officers deserved public support instead because they kept the country safe. Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform, called for Ben-Julian Harrington, the chief constable of Essex, to resign after his force escorted anti-fascist protesters through a crowd of people demonstrating against migrants. But Cooper said: 'The police do a really important job across our country keeping people safe. It is really important frankly that people support our police rather than just attacking them continually. As we have seen, Reform is one day calling for chief constables to resign, the next it is attacking women police officers who are out on our streets every single day of the week.' Farage has repeatedly weighed into the debate about the Epping migrant hotel and said earlier this week: 'Hard-left groups, Stand Up To Racism and Antifa, were given the red carpet treatment by Essex police, with the force literally escorting and bussing masked thugs to and from the protest. They have been caught redhanded helping to light the fuse that led to violence.' Harrington said Reform's claims were 'categorically wrong' and that officers had organised a cordon around activists exercising their right to protest. Dal Babu, a former chief superintendent for the Metropolitan police, said Farage's claims were wrong and he should correct the public record amid rising tensions. 'British values mean if a politician makes a mistake, they put their hand up and acknowledge it. He knows it is false,' Babu said. Police arrested 16 people after a heated protest last week outside the Bell hotel in Epping, where another demonstration was held on Thursday evening. Hundreds of protesters, including many women and children, began marching from Epping town centre to the hotel at around 6pm in heavy rain. A ramped-up police operation included fences and a ban on the wearing of facial coverings. Activists from the far-right Homeland group were behind an Epping Says No! Facebook group that has been behind much of the promotion of the protests. Members of Patriotic Alternative and White Vanguard have also been involved. While politicians have largely stayed away from the protest, two Reform councillors were present outside the Epping hotel last week, including James Regan who claimed in an interview that 'they're trying to dilute the Englishness out of us'. The Guardian also found evidence that a Reform official shared a platform in Epping with an agitator from Homeland. In last year's summer riots, Keir Starmer, the prime minister, called out 'far-right thuggery' and pledged to bring those involved to justice. However, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said on Thursday that many of the Epping protesters were 'upset for legitimate reasons'. Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, told the cabinet earlier this week that immigration and deprivation were among the main factors causing public disenchantment with politicians. There is already a taskforce on community cohesion, informed by experts and officials, while a £1.5bn 'plan for neighbourhoods' aims to invest in 75 deprived areas over the next decade. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Some Labour MPs are concerned that political and media language about the UK being on the brink of social unrest might be raising tensions rather than encouraging cohesion. Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, said on Thursday that if people were 'unsettled by the political and press debate around immigration, law and order, the idea that there could be race riots again, you are completely right to be concerned because this discussion in itself is raising fear and uncertainty and tension'. She added: 'It is dividing us and feeding this myth that Britain is a nation that cannot manage diversity rather than one that draws strength from it.' Brendan Cox, whose wife, Jo, a Labour MP, was murdered by a far-right extremist, said the UK needed a longer-term strategy on social cohesion. 'There is a set of local concerns around this in Epping and it's also true that these are being co-opted and used by elements of the far right,' said Cox, who is the convener of an independent commission on community. 'It's no surprise that happens when there are these kind of festering legitimate concerns and successive governments are seen to not act on those. But the broad point I'd make is that we've published a report about there being a tinderbox … and I think what's really clear is that we don't really have any long-term cohesion strategy at all.' Nick Lowles, of the Hope not Hate campaign group, said: 'We are concerned that policing has not caught up with the new post-organisation nature of the far right, where individuals can emerge and play a role on social media and inciting or directing violence, without ever being a member of a far-right organisation.' David Blunkett, the Labour peer and former home secretary, said policing unrest fuelled by the far right was always difficult but the key was 'specialist dog-trained police units and an online understanding of what they are doing' – as well as the Home Office involving MI5 at an early stage. The Epping protest was sparked by the charging of Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, a 38-year-old asylum seeker, with sexual assault over allegedly trying to kiss a girl of 14. He denied the charge at Chelmsford magistrates court and will stand trial next month. A Reform official would not answer questions about sharing a platform with the far right or about Cooper's claims that the party should back the police. Instead the spokesperson said the Guardian 'cares more about attacking Reform UK than defending young girls who are being abused by illegal boat migrants'.
