‘People are scared!’ England’s most English town admits why ‘embarrassed’ locals won’t celebrate St George’s Day

Almost three-in-10 locals identified as English only, with an additional 16.9 per cent also saying they are both English and British.

However, scratch beneath the surface and there is not much going on behind the 14-mile sea wall to mark St George’s Day.

“Englishness is really important,” pensioner Terry White told GB News. “I’d do something for St George’s Day but people are too scared.”

White, originally from Poplar on the London Docklands, believes other countries across the Anglosphere remain proud of their national identity but fears culture-cancelling efforts to “erase” English history deter people from showing support.

He said: “We should do something for St George’s Day, VE Day and Churchill Day. Other countries, especially America and Australia, are proud and we should be too.”

Moving away from the seafront to Canvey Island’s town centre, John Sutton echoed concerns about England’s patriotic collapse.

“I’m very proud to be English and I’ll be spending St George’s Day with my daughter in Grays,” the tweed-clad pensioner revealed. “But it’s such a shame we don’t do more. I just think people are embarrassed.”

Sutton, who is a member of his local RAF Association, also made comparisons between Britain’s stance towards its military heroes and the affection held for servicemen in America.

He added: “Compared to the Americans, we don’t show any support for our Armed Forces.”

And there is also some jealousy at the extent to which the other corners of the British Isles mark their respective patron saint days.

Sutton snapped: “Even if you look at Scotland with St Andrew’s Day, I’m half Scottish, we just don’t do anything. It’s such a shame and it’s only going to get worse.”

Scots receive a Bank Holiday around November 30 for St Andrew’s Day celebrations.

Festivities can last over a week, with hundreds of thousands of Scots embracing traditional music, dancing, food and drink.

The Irish diaspora also sent St Patrick’s Day celebrations far from the Emerald Isle, with this year's parades stretching from San Francisco to Sydney.

Britain also holds major celebrations for the Welsh-born patron saint, leaving many English people bamboozled as to why the same affection is not shown towards St George.

John Simmonds, 76, admitted: “We do a lot in this country for St Patrick’s Day and I was thinking the other week why we don’t do the same for St George’s Day."

Simmonds, who believes Canvey’s drop in Englishness stems from the failures of Brexit, also told GB News: “I will be raising a glass for St George’s Day. This has nothing to do with football culture, it’s just that I’m proud of my country.”

Vanessa Jayne added: “Unfortunately, St George’s Day doesn’t seem to be celebrated much at all. We should make something of it, like everyone else does for St Patrick’s Day.”

There is also a growing perception that England is celebrating other cultures' events much more than its own.

“This country doesn’t do anything to celebrate being English,” Steve Love, 69, told the People’s Channel.

The Canvey resident, who relocated from Dagenham after working in the East London pub trade around 20-years ago, added: “This isn’t a new thing. It’s always been that way. I’m also sad that Easter isn’t celebrated more. We celebrate other faiths without any shame.”

Lorraine Adams also said: “It’s not the English way to celebrate our own country and traditions, only others.”

Sir Keir Starmer came under fire for failing to mark Ash Wednesday before wishing Britons Eid Mubarak.

King Charles also raised eyebrows after making reference to both Judaism and Islam in his Easter message

However, more fury was reserved for Norwood Primary School after it decided to cancel its Easter service, citing “inclusivity and respect for the diverse religious beliefs represented” locally.

But some Canvey locals were clearly struggling to see the point of celebrating St George’s Day.

Jane, a member of Canvey Island’s Conservative Club, said: “I won’t be doing anything. I haven’t done anything before and we don’t really do anything to celebrate it in this country.”

When asked if she was proud to be English, Jane replied: “I’m sometimes proud to be English but when you see what English people get up to - especially abroad - I’m sometimes not.”

Paul Hobday, who was clearly aware that St George was born in modern-day Turkey, also quipped: “We’ve got about five Turkish restaurants. That’s the most appropriate way to celebrate St George.”

Despite the clear collapse in English pride, some Canvey locals remain keen to do their bit.

“Here in King’s Park we will celebrate St George’s Day, as well as a big 80th VE Day celebration,” William O’Dowd said.

Echoing Romford MP Andrew Rosindell's recent calls, O'Dowd added: “April 23 should be a Bank Holiday.”

King’s Park is located in Canvey Islands’ Newlands ward, where English identity reaches a local high of 32.6 per cent.

Janet Layton also said: “I always put my St George’s flag out on my balcony.”

Despite concerns about people being too scared or embarrassed to celebrate St George’s Day, GB News found a number of events have been scheduled for April 23.

The local Conservative Club is marking the occasion with a bash at 4pm, promising a “not to be missed” event in the form of an “old style street party with music”.

Punters have even been encouraged to wear their best red and white outfits.

Canvey Island’s Royal British Legion is also knocking off 20p from its wines, beers and spirits.

Sandra Hynes, who is secretary of the local branch, told GB News: “We’re putting up bunting on April 23 for St George’s Day and we are also doing a big day to mark VE Day on May 10.”

Other events include a craft fayre and coffee morning to honour St George at the Methodist Church on Waarden Road on April 26.

Castle Point's Tory MP Dame Rebecca Harris also spoke to GB News about Canvey's sense of English pride and declining levels of patriotism more broadly.

“There are a lot of families who moved here one or two generations ago from the East End of London famous for its ‘blitz spirit’. The sense of national pride and community across Castle Point, but particularly Canvey, is one of the things I love best about being the local MP. It's fantastic."

However, conceding the recent drop in English zeal, Harris added: “It’s very sad that the feeling of national pride is on the decline. I don’t think people feel like this Government reflects or even understands their sense of national pride or Englishness.”

Reform UK’s 2024 Castle Point candidate Keiron McGill also welcomed efforts to hold events to mark St George’s Day.

“I love it when a community comes together,” he told GB News.

McGill, who came runner-up to Harris by just 3,251 votes, added: “Much more visual pride should be taken to commemorate this day at least, with events marking the occasion annually, giving English people a day to come together and celebrate. I haven’t seen anything listed after reviewing local council websites.”

Castle Point Borough Council confirmed it has not scheduled any official events for St George’s Day.

“There’s none that I’m aware of,” a council worker told GB News. “We have done in the past and sometimes it is simply raising the flag of St George.”

Canvey’s fall in national pride mirrors a national collapse from 60.4 per cent to just 15.3 per cent in a 10-year period, with the number of British-identifying Englishmen and women surging as a result.

The 2011 Census put Canvey Island’s English-only population at 77.5 per cent, well-above the 27.3 per cent recorded four-years ago.

And a further 16.9 per cent now identify as both English and British, up from 8.6 per cent, with the proportion of residents identifying as British soaring from just 11 per cent to 52.5 per cent.

The collapse seen in England was not mirrored in Wales, with a modest 2.3 per cent drop in Welshness on the other side of the River Severn and a British bump of just 1.6 per cent.

However, Professor John Denham highlighted some of the issues in the methodology used by the Office for National Statistics.

Professor Denham, who previously served as a Labour MP before heading up the University of Southampton’s Centre for English Identity and Politics, told GB News: “You can’t compare the most recent ONS with the previous one because they changed the ordering of the questions.

“Most reliable polls show a gradual shift from people saying they are more English than British to equally English and British but there’s no sign of people stopping being English entirely.”

GB News has approached Castle Point Borough Council and Canvey Island Town Council for comment.