Friday 5 October 2007

Why this Blog is Welsh, and not British

The British government pays lip service to a separate Welsh and Scottish identity.
It is trying to keep the lid on devolution. Those in power at Westminster now realise where devolution is heading, i.e. to the break up of the union. So they promote what they call "Britishness" to bolster a sense of mutual identity.
They don't want the union to break up. Their arguments are not economic - they are emotional.
Their emotional identity with Britain comes from the past, from conditioning (programming) from early education derived from skewed history and stories of imperial glory and conquest.
Wales, yes Wales, was one of the earlier conquests. Nationalists recognise that and aim to put things right. Like any former British dependency Wales as a nation seeks independence. Wales is not Britain, though technically incorporated (1536) into England. One cannot be both Welsh and British (I used 'British' in the sense of Greater English).
Great Britain is Greater England, comprising former colonies (i.e. Wales/Scotland/Cornwall). Britain was an attempt at uniting these nations along with England into a powerful state ruled by a centralised government which was predominantly English. It became the seat of the English establishment along with the Church of England. It attempted to dominate and extirpate its subject cultures and language. The Queen is still "Defender of the Faith" (Christian Protestant variety). Within Westminster was the Stone of Scone stolen from the Scottish kings. It represented subjection to the English king. Pomp and ceremony are employed to instil an emotional bond to the idea of Britishness. Read the words of the 3 verses of the British Anthem. It says it all.
These facts are not in dispute. Look at the Irish experience with colonial rule, a litany of conquest, neglect, exploitation. It is now time to show the world that British does not equal English. The English have commandeered the word "British" and have made it their own, and then convinced the world that it is theirs. That is why British=English. To all Welshmen and women I say one does not have to be a member of Plaid to be a nationalist. One simply has to be Welsh.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well that rules you out; you're English.

Unknown said...

Typical comment from another "anonymous".

Anonymous said...

But you ARE English. Why deny it ? Ashamed?