Most people in the United Kingdom are rightly proud to be British.
But almost all people in Britain have an additional national identity too. Most Scots are unashamedly proud to be both British and Scottish. The same is true of the Welsh. These are identities that predate our Britishness but also strengthen it.
The same should be true of the English. I am deeply proud to be both English and British. My upbringing was in provincial England and being English is important to me. It is my home.
That’s why I have always celebrated St George’s Day. I remember my parents, imbued with what you could call an old fashioned working-class patriotism, used to take me to the St George’s Day parades in Black Country towns like Dudley. They were replete with flags, knights on horses and a few pints in pub gardens. It was why, when the authorities tried to kibosh the parade in Newark on ‘health and safety grounds’ a group of friends and I stepped in to act as marshalls and kept the show on the road.
The St George's Day parade passes the Rose of England public house on its way to the city centre of Nottingham
PA
The tradition lives on. This weekend hundreds of people, including the massed ranks of our local Scouts and Guides turn out, have fun, fly the St George’s flag and share our sense of love of country.
But just as I also hold a strong affinity to the St George’s Cross, so do I with the Union flag.
But there’s an important difference. Whereas most of the 'Establishment' in Scotland and Wales are proud to be Scottish and Welsh, most of the English political and media elite are far from proud to be English.
George Orwell once wrote that “England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality”. The same is true today.
Who could forget Emily Thornberry’s mocking tweet of a house flying the St George’s flag? That disdain for English national identity remains in the Labour Party. They seem happy to promote and celebrate literally any other culture than the majority culture most people here are proud of.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick speaking to the media outside outside the Old Bailey in central London
PA
But the 'Establishment' disdain for our identity goes well beyond Emily Thornberry. The Arts Council, for instance, funds projects that denigrate our past. Our university students are taught that England has a uniquely evil past that is responsible for the world’s injustices. We can’t possibly forge a more united country around an identity we aren’t proud of.
Today is the perfect time to put that right and celebrate everything great about England.
There is England the place. A landscape of town and country, old and new, stunning valleys and wild seas. Of perfect villages with its freshly-cut greens, parish churches and fetes. Our national parks and rolling hills have unrivalled beauty.
And there is the English people. A nation forged long ago. Ours is a rich and complex story which includes a range of outstanding achievements and innovations out of all proportion to our size.
And there is Englishness which is a quality and a spirit that has helped shaped our society.
The St George's Day parade makes it's way into the city centre of Nottingham
PA
Its cultural legacy includes not only the world’s most popular language but also the spread of ideas such as representative democracy and the rule of law. There’s our mannerisms, food, customs, traditions, our sense of humour. It is a fundamental part of who we are.
We need to prize that sense of belonging and ensure it is passed onto our children and grandchildren.
For all its challenges, and they are many and serious right now, England is a great nation. It can be greater still.
We should always be proud to be English. But particularly today.
Happy St George’s Day.
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