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> UK has a political crisis, based on an identity crisis One theory about this explains it as primarily an English identity crisis. In the past two decades tru
by jahnu 4y ago
> UK has a political crisis, based on an identity crisis
One theory about this explains it as primarily an English identity crisis. In the past two decades trust in Westminister has plummeted in England as the rest of the UK established or is at least trying to establish with varying degrees of success their own local devolved centres of power which bring a strong sense of identity. England doesn’t have a power centre of its own and with the end of the British empire went the sense of Britishness albeit more slowly. Now Englanders feel somewhat adrift and powerless in their own land and lash out and take out their frustrations on targets offered up by populist media and politicians.
- soco 4y agoMight be my outsider view but I don't see much representation of the opinions of Scottish, Northern Irish or Welsh. It's almost always English here English there. Do the others matter less in UK politics, do they align pretty much to English opinions, or it's just sloppy a way of generally referring to UK citizens?
- jahnu 4y agoIt’s probably mostly just down to the fact that there are a lot more English citizens than others. Historically, England is richer and until recently all important decisions were made in London. Then there is the fact that most Americans and especially in American media British=English and even then mostly Southern English so that influences how outsiders view the place. I lived in England for a few years and Scotland for one and yeah it’s true the opinions of the other parts weren’t really considered by English people, by and large.
- nmeofthestate 4y ago> England doesn’t have a power centre of its own In fact, the UK parliament - Westminster - is a defacto English power centre. The fringe nations are a mathematical irrelevance except in extreme cases. The UK is in reality Greater England, same way the Russian Federation is Russia writ large. This narrative of forgotten, voiceless England doesn't stand up to examination. Brexit, though, was most certainly born out of (some of) the English feeling that they were losing control of their domain to Europe.
- jahnu 4y agoSorry I meant more in the sense that a large number of English voters don’t feel Westminister represents their English specific concerns. Here’s a great talk by Fintan O’Toole where he explains his take on this viewpoint far better than I ever could https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1SeadvWsn_k https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1SeadvWsn_k