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Labour still has to work out how it can speak for England Labour still has to work out how it can speak for England
(7 months later)
So who will speak for the England that thinks asking, “Who will speak for England?” is somewhere between hideous and mildly hilarious? That’s the first question posed by the excitable front page of Thursday’s Daily Mail, which was instantly spoofed all over social media.So who will speak for the England that thinks asking, “Who will speak for England?” is somewhere between hideous and mildly hilarious? That’s the first question posed by the excitable front page of Thursday’s Daily Mail, which was instantly spoofed all over social media.
Related: As a political force Englishness is on the rise – and Labour mustn't forget it | Vernon Bogdanor
What politician will speak for the poor flustered millions, those for whom the very definition of Englishness is feeling mortified when asked to define Englishness; who if pressed might cite queuing, apologising even when the other person is actually at fault, and always carrying an umbrella, but worry afterwards that maybe even that was a bit strident?What politician will speak for the poor flustered millions, those for whom the very definition of Englishness is feeling mortified when asked to define Englishness; who if pressed might cite queuing, apologising even when the other person is actually at fault, and always carrying an umbrella, but worry afterwards that maybe even that was a bit strident?
It feels a bit lame, in what we’re always being told is an age of identity politics, to admit that you haven’t really got one; worse than not being able to summon up a vision of how David Bowie changed your life. But what if you just … haven’t? What if you try and try and try to squeeze out a properly fierce, heart-swelling vision of something you would die for and it just won’t come?It feels a bit lame, in what we’re always being told is an age of identity politics, to admit that you haven’t really got one; worse than not being able to summon up a vision of how David Bowie changed your life. But what if you just … haven’t? What if you try and try and try to squeeze out a properly fierce, heart-swelling vision of something you would die for and it just won’t come?
One answer is to watch an old video that recently went viral of the US presidential hopeful Ted Cruz making bacon with a gun. (Should you want to try this at home, then the safety advice is not to, but it involves wrapping raw bacon around the barrel and loosing off a few shots at the rifle range. The heat of the gun apparently singes the bacon to a crisp.) If Englishness means anything, it surely means preferring your country not to be led by someone who cooks with a semi-automatic rifle.One answer is to watch an old video that recently went viral of the US presidential hopeful Ted Cruz making bacon with a gun. (Should you want to try this at home, then the safety advice is not to, but it involves wrapping raw bacon around the barrel and loosing off a few shots at the rifle range. The heat of the gun apparently singes the bacon to a crisp.) If Englishness means anything, it surely means preferring your country not to be led by someone who cooks with a semi-automatic rifle.
And that’s the thing about national identity – it’s most easily defined and keenly felt as opposition to somebody or something else. The quickest route to a strong national identity is a common enemy.And that’s the thing about national identity – it’s most easily defined and keenly felt as opposition to somebody or something else. The quickest route to a strong national identity is a common enemy.
English nationalism has been rising steadily since the early 1990s, according to a little-noticed piece of research discussed on the fringes of the Labour party conference last autumn by the ex-minister John Denham. (Now an academic based at the University of Winchester, his work focuses on what he calls the search for “progressive patriotism”, or a vision of Englishness with which the left is comfortable.)English nationalism has been rising steadily since the early 1990s, according to a little-noticed piece of research discussed on the fringes of the Labour party conference last autumn by the ex-minister John Denham. (Now an academic based at the University of Winchester, his work focuses on what he calls the search for “progressive patriotism”, or a vision of Englishness with which the left is comfortable.)
But what’s interesting is that this identity has often peaked in tandem with key moments for Scottish nationalism. It’s as if Scotland’s vigorous assertion of its own identity has shattered the lazy assumption that “British” was basically synonymous with “English”, forcing the rest of us to ask rather defensively what being English actually means. And this new strain of Englishness is, according to the Future of England survey, closely associated with attitudes to “otherness”.But what’s interesting is that this identity has often peaked in tandem with key moments for Scottish nationalism. It’s as if Scotland’s vigorous assertion of its own identity has shattered the lazy assumption that “British” was basically synonymous with “English”, forcing the rest of us to ask rather defensively what being English actually means. And this new strain of Englishness is, according to the Future of England survey, closely associated with attitudes to “otherness”.
People who self-identify as English are significantly more likely than those who live in England but self-identify as British to regard the EU as a bad thing, and to favour restricting immigration. Feeling English is clearly associated with an aversion to perceived meddling from Brussels or to newcomers potentially changing what it means to be English.People who self-identify as English are significantly more likely than those who live in England but self-identify as British to regard the EU as a bad thing, and to favour restricting immigration. Feeling English is clearly associated with an aversion to perceived meddling from Brussels or to newcomers potentially changing what it means to be English.
Related: How the England football team came to embody Englishness | David Goldblatt
And if you’re wondering why Labour would ever want to speak for that kind of England, one beloved of Sun and Mail readers, the answer is that it already does. Over a third of Labour voters in England self-identified as English. One in four Sun readers voted for Ed Miliband in 2015. Short of telling them they’re all not allowed in the party any more, the Englishness debate is not one Labour can easily sidestep.And if you’re wondering why Labour would ever want to speak for that kind of England, one beloved of Sun and Mail readers, the answer is that it already does. Over a third of Labour voters in England self-identified as English. One in four Sun readers voted for Ed Miliband in 2015. Short of telling them they’re all not allowed in the party any more, the Englishness debate is not one Labour can easily sidestep.
Drawing on George Orwell’s famous clarion call to the left not to ignore working-class patriotism, MP Tristram Hunt this week became the latest senior Labour figure to demand a new approach to Englishness – including the inevitable call to be more “honest” about immigration. Next week the up-and-coming leftwinger Lisa Nandy will open a series of seminars on Englishness organised by Denham, which will also include the ex-soldier-turned-leadership-hopeful Dan Jarvis. The search is on for a way of speaking for England, without resorting to the usual reactionary script.Drawing on George Orwell’s famous clarion call to the left not to ignore working-class patriotism, MP Tristram Hunt this week became the latest senior Labour figure to demand a new approach to Englishness – including the inevitable call to be more “honest” about immigration. Next week the up-and-coming leftwinger Lisa Nandy will open a series of seminars on Englishness organised by Denham, which will also include the ex-soldier-turned-leadership-hopeful Dan Jarvis. The search is on for a way of speaking for England, without resorting to the usual reactionary script.
Labour’s past is littered with awkward attempts to “do” patriotism, from Peter Mandelson posing with a bulldog during the 1997 election campaign to Gordon Brown’s clunky promise of “British jobs for British workers”. Who can forget Ed Miliband, meanwhile, sacking Emily Thornberry for tweeting a photograph of a white van covered in St George flags before declaring that his own emotional response to seeing a white van was “respect”, as if it were some sort of ancient monument?Labour’s past is littered with awkward attempts to “do” patriotism, from Peter Mandelson posing with a bulldog during the 1997 election campaign to Gordon Brown’s clunky promise of “British jobs for British workers”. Who can forget Ed Miliband, meanwhile, sacking Emily Thornberry for tweeting a photograph of a white van covered in St George flags before declaring that his own emotional response to seeing a white van was “respect”, as if it were some sort of ancient monument?
And now it’s Jeremy Corbyn’s turn. There is actually something quintessentially English about the Labour leader. It’s there in his love of his allotment, his terrible dress sense, his gentle understatement and the way he waits sternly during prime minister’s questions for MPs to stop mucking about at the back of the class.And now it’s Jeremy Corbyn’s turn. There is actually something quintessentially English about the Labour leader. It’s there in his love of his allotment, his terrible dress sense, his gentle understatement and the way he waits sternly during prime minister’s questions for MPs to stop mucking about at the back of the class.
He speaks naturally for an England that recoils instinctively from flag-waving jingoism; that cheerfully couldn’t give a toss whether you sing the national anthem or revere the Queen; that sees the value in Englishness being a deliberately vague concept, elastic enough to incorporate all without rancour. (Good luck finding any definition of Englishness that’s sharp enough to mean something, yet not instantly divisive; that can’t be aggressively turned into the age-old game of ‘if you’re not with us, you’re against us’.)He speaks naturally for an England that recoils instinctively from flag-waving jingoism; that cheerfully couldn’t give a toss whether you sing the national anthem or revere the Queen; that sees the value in Englishness being a deliberately vague concept, elastic enough to incorporate all without rancour. (Good luck finding any definition of Englishness that’s sharp enough to mean something, yet not instantly divisive; that can’t be aggressively turned into the age-old game of ‘if you’re not with us, you’re against us’.)
It’s a lovely kind of Englishness, but the only problem is that most Labour voters who embrace it are probably in the bag already. The ones who aren’t are those Orwell might have recognised, those who – as the sacked shadow cabinet minister Michael Dugher said recently of his Barnsley constituents – fly the flag out of pride but also as a cry for help, to show “we haven’t gone away and we deserve a voice too”.It’s a lovely kind of Englishness, but the only problem is that most Labour voters who embrace it are probably in the bag already. The ones who aren’t are those Orwell might have recognised, those who – as the sacked shadow cabinet minister Michael Dugher said recently of his Barnsley constituents – fly the flag out of pride but also as a cry for help, to show “we haven’t gone away and we deserve a voice too”.
Yet under Corbyn, Labour members are significantly more middle class, Londoncentric and affluent than in decades, more Stoke Newington than Stoke-on-Trent. The party’s electoral base too has never been more middle class. The traditional party of the working classes is having something of a quiet identity crisis itself, increasingly confronted with Labour voters whose views on national identity or immigration Labour politicians don’t share – views they may find divisive, disconcerting, even offensive.Yet under Corbyn, Labour members are significantly more middle class, Londoncentric and affluent than in decades, more Stoke Newington than Stoke-on-Trent. The party’s electoral base too has never been more middle class. The traditional party of the working classes is having something of a quiet identity crisis itself, increasingly confronted with Labour voters whose views on national identity or immigration Labour politicians don’t share – views they may find divisive, disconcerting, even offensive.
The optimistic answer is that somehow the socially conservative and liberal wings of Labour will eventually argue and reason their way to a more enlightened understanding of each other’s differences.The optimistic answer is that somehow the socially conservative and liberal wings of Labour will eventually argue and reason their way to a more enlightened understanding of each other’s differences.
But the pessimistic answer is that a schism looms; that the crack between Labour’s old industrial heartlands and its liberal urban playgrounds is getting too wide to paper over. Who speaks for England, when England speaks with so many different voices?But the pessimistic answer is that a schism looms; that the crack between Labour’s old industrial heartlands and its liberal urban playgrounds is getting too wide to paper over. Who speaks for England, when England speaks with so many different voices?