EVERY economy has its regional differences. From the prosperity of the wool industry in the 18th century West Country, to the smooth production lines of the Midlands in the 20th, certain English regions have often been immediately identifiable with certain trades.So says Alan Duncan, Shadow Trade Secretary.
So, England has always had regions, has it Mr Duncan?
He continues:
But dig a little deeper and the picture becomes much more complex. Yorkshire's industrial past has been extraordinarily varied: textiles from West Riding, steel from Sheffield, coal from Doncaster.
But isn't Yorkshire a COUNTY?
He then goes on a lot about the "UK":
But we still need to do more to target areas of the UK that are failing to keep pace with the rest of the country.
The UK - a country? Surely it's a Union of countries? And aren't the RDA's he discusses only in England?
When last I looked, the Tories were opposed to the regional project. So what's going on now? And is Alan Duncan very educated on his subject matter?
Yes the UK is a union of countries, just as England is a union of counties, and counties, so one hopes, a union of towns and vilages, each of which are unions, again so one hopes, of neighbourhoods and families - which are, again, so one hopes, unions of individuals who don't hate each other too much.
ReplyDeleteThis to me is the natural, healthy order of things. No I'm not saying 'There is no such thing as Society' but we need, I feel, to return to our roots, to the familiar, to what is most home about ourselves.
The UK is essentially two things: The shared face our four countries show to the world, and a statement of our common bonds of cultural affininity, bonds that understand themselves as united around a common allegaince to the Crown.
To me The Union Jack is a Monarchical expression of the Union of the British peoples around the Crown. It is not the flag of England, and obviously not of Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland (though these nations (exept wales, alas) express themselves through it. There really should be no tensions or confusions regarding this matter.
Personally, I have no problem being both English and British. But I am not Welsh, nor Scottish nor Northern Irish...and I would expect a person from these countries to get upset with my presumptiousness if I claimed I was.
But the problem is if you take away my right to be English this will then mean either that I will have to become either Welsh or Scottish or Northern Irish OR that all of our British peoples will have also been deprived of their right to identify themselves with their respective countries.
Is this what Europe wants I wonder?
May the Union stand strong; and may the dignity of the countries that comprise it also.