Tony Blair wants to stem the tide of beer, sick and blood and take us back to a golden age of civility and good-manners. But history contradicts him. The first law to control English binge-drinking was passed in 616 AD ... the English have been violent, binge-drinking hooligans for more than a thousand years.
Channel Four last night screened a programme called "Seven Sins of England" and the text at the top of this post is from their website - http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/S/seven_sins/index.html
I would be loath to generalise about any nationality in the way Channel Four does about the English and surely in 616 there wasn't an England or an English?
I have Scots relatives and the majority can drink and brawl like nobodies business, but I wouldn't dream of saying that all Scots were the same.
Of course, times have changed since Channel Four's launch as a brave, new "alternative" TV station in 1982. The advent of satellite has meant that this minority interest channel has had to find a lucrative niche for itself by showing life-enhancing programmes like "Big Brother" and indulging anti-English racists and politically correct bigots.
I didn't see the show last night, but it is Channel Four's second attack on the English in a matter of weeks, following on from "Face of Britain", which dealt with the horrific fact that some Celtic DNA is "Sullied" by Anglo Saxon and other things pertinent to Nazi-style race and territorial rights theories.
When Channel Four first appeared on my radar as an anti-English channel with shows like "100% English", I thought it was a passing phase. But the channel is getting more and more into its stride on the theme. I now picture the controller of Channel Four (if there is such a thing) as a pathological hater of the English, frothing at the mouth and taking every opportunity to slate them - when he/she is not watching "Big Brother", that is.
In these multi-channel days, there's so much more to choose from, but, as one who remembers Channel Four's launch and the promise it held, I cannot help feeling a little sad that it's ended up like this.
Thanks to Julian McKechnie for telling me about this programme and website.
Unless something really drastic happens, I shan't be writing about Channel Four here again.
I don't want to be associated with the station in any way, shape or form.
UPDATE
Sue Campbell
Come on, Chris, Channel Four showed "Countdown" and "Brookside" on its opening night in 1982! It may not have always been rabidly anti-English and Nazi-esque, but it's always been a crap TV channel. And it's gone downhill immeasurably since its debute. Why take it so seriously?
