Modern
The English nationalist movement has its roots in a perception amongst many people in England that they are primarily or exclusively English rather than British, which mirrors the view in the other constituent countries. The perceived rise in English identity in recent years, as evidenced by the increased display of the English flag (particularly during international sporting competitions), is sometimes attributed in the media to the increased devolution of political power to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
One possible incentive for supporting the establishment of self-governing English political institutions is the West Lothian question: the constitutional inconsistency whereby Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs in the UK Parliament are able to cast votes on bills which will apply only to England while English MPs have fewer such rights in relation to Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish legislation, which is in many cases handled by the devolved legislatures.
Many contemporary English nationalist movements differ significantly from mainstream Scottish, Welsh and Cornish nationalist movements insofar as they are often associated with support for right-of-centre economic and social policies. Nationalists elsewhere in the UK tend towards a social democratic political stance, as evidenced by the policies of the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru. There are, however many liberal and left-wing English nationalists, such as Labour MP Jon Cruddas and musician Billy Bragg. English nationalism is also often associated with Euroscepticism, one reason for opposition to the EU being the belief that England is being subdivided into regions at the behest of the European Union.
While there is in principle no conflict between the objectives of English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish nationalism, there is an inherent incompatibility between many forms of English nationalism and Cornish nationalism, since Cornwall is seen by some English nationalists as being an integral part of England. To the extent that it advocates the political separation of England from the (remainder of the) UK, English nationalism is not compatible with Scottish or Northern Irish Unionism.
Read more about this topic: English Nationalism
Famous quotes containing the word modern:
“He was naturally so sensitive, and so kind. But he had the insidious modern disease of tolerance. He must tolerate everything, even a thing that revolted him.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“Grief that is dazed and speechless is out of fashion: the modern woman mourns her husband loudly and tells you the whole story of his death, which distresses her so much that she forgets not the slightest detail about it.”
—Jean De La Bruyère (1645–1696)
“Chaucer is fresh and modern still, and no dust settles on his true passages. It lightens along the line, and we are reminded that flowers have bloomed, and birds sung, and hearts beaten in England. Before the earnest gaze of the reader, the rust and moss of time gradually drop off, and the original green life is revealed. He was a homely and domestic man, and did breathe quite as modern men do.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)