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Who are these 'little Englanders' David Cameron is playing to? Who are these 'little Englanders' David Cameron is playing to?
(4 months later)
In an effort to shore up his popularity among Tory loyalists who have been flirting with the idea of switching to Ukip, David Cameron has come out in qualified support of those who get twitchy every time another foreigner is allowed to enter the country. In a speech ahead of this month's G8 summit, the prime minister said previous governments were "too easily seduced by the rewards of globalisation and not alert enough to the risks" when it came to immigration and the EU, and that "we're familiar, too, with their frankly patronising approach to those who may disagree. 'You're a little Englander', they say. 'You don't get the modern world.'"In an effort to shore up his popularity among Tory loyalists who have been flirting with the idea of switching to Ukip, David Cameron has come out in qualified support of those who get twitchy every time another foreigner is allowed to enter the country. In a speech ahead of this month's G8 summit, the prime minister said previous governments were "too easily seduced by the rewards of globalisation and not alert enough to the risks" when it came to immigration and the EU, and that "we're familiar, too, with their frankly patronising approach to those who may disagree. 'You're a little Englander', they say. 'You don't get the modern world.'"
Some might wonder whether Cameron really gets the modern world either, but that's an argument for another time. The point at issue here is who and what, exactly, is a little Englander?Some might wonder whether Cameron really gets the modern world either, but that's an argument for another time. The point at issue here is who and what, exactly, is a little Englander?
The term was first used in the second Boer war to describe those who believed Britain had no right to poke its nose into affairs beyond its own borders. As such, it was a term of abuse for those who questioned Britain's imperialist ambitions. Somewhere over the course of the past 100 years, the term has shifted meaning somewhat to include those who lament that one-third of the world is no longer painted red, those who insist the country went to the dogs with the introduction of decimal currency and those who think the only thing that can save us is the construction of maypoles in every village, regular flypasts by a lone Lancaster bomber and a law decreeing that all foreigners should be seen and not heard. Apart from on weekends, when they shouldn't be seen either. In short, it has become a byword for small-minded bigotry.The term was first used in the second Boer war to describe those who believed Britain had no right to poke its nose into affairs beyond its own borders. As such, it was a term of abuse for those who questioned Britain's imperialist ambitions. Somewhere over the course of the past 100 years, the term has shifted meaning somewhat to include those who lament that one-third of the world is no longer painted red, those who insist the country went to the dogs with the introduction of decimal currency and those who think the only thing that can save us is the construction of maypoles in every village, regular flypasts by a lone Lancaster bomber and a law decreeing that all foreigners should be seen and not heard. Apart from on weekends, when they shouldn't be seen either. In short, it has become a byword for small-minded bigotry.
But it is a very particular form of bigotry. Run through the attributes of the little Englander and they aren't so very different from those of the English Defence League. Preservation of old-fashioned English values, the flag of St George hanging from every public building and greengrocers with English accents selling cox's apples in imperial measures. Except the EDL can't be little Englanders because they are the wrong class. The EDL are the working classes: many of them will be shaven-headed football supporters. A little Englander wouldn't be seen dead doing either.But it is a very particular form of bigotry. Run through the attributes of the little Englander and they aren't so very different from those of the English Defence League. Preservation of old-fashioned English values, the flag of St George hanging from every public building and greengrocers with English accents selling cox's apples in imperial measures. Except the EDL can't be little Englanders because they are the wrong class. The EDL are the working classes: many of them will be shaven-headed football supporters. A little Englander wouldn't be seen dead doing either.
Nor though can a little Englander hope to be one of the upper classes, though they too often share many of the same concerns: excessive interference from Brussels, the erosion of important traditions such as fox hunting and the abolition of droit de seigneur. Yet the upper classes are Tory grandees; never little Englanders. Little Englanders aren't just small-minded; they have small lives too. Small but worthwhile, in a limited fashion. They can aspire to be bank managers from Walmington-on-sea; hotel owners from Torquay; golf club members from anywhere in the home counties – but nothing more than that.Nor though can a little Englander hope to be one of the upper classes, though they too often share many of the same concerns: excessive interference from Brussels, the erosion of important traditions such as fox hunting and the abolition of droit de seigneur. Yet the upper classes are Tory grandees; never little Englanders. Little Englanders aren't just small-minded; they have small lives too. Small but worthwhile, in a limited fashion. They can aspire to be bank managers from Walmington-on-sea; hotel owners from Torquay; golf club members from anywhere in the home counties – but nothing more than that.
How apt that terms of bigotry should be riddled with class snobbery. And how apt that when the prime minister tries to defend little Englanders from being patronised, he can't avoid inadvertently patronising them himself.How apt that terms of bigotry should be riddled with class snobbery. And how apt that when the prime minister tries to defend little Englanders from being patronised, he can't avoid inadvertently patronising them himself.
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