Jack Straw: That Statement in Full
It's oft quoted, but here it is in full:
The English are potentially very aggressive, very violent. We have used this propensity to violence to subjugate Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Then we used it in Europe and with our empire, so I think what you have within the UK is three small nations...who've been over the centuries under the cosh of the English. Those small nations inevitably sought expression by a very explicit idea of nationhood. You have this very dominant other nation, England, 10 times bigger than the others, which is self-confident and therefore has not needed to be so explicit about its expression. I think as we move into this new century, people's sense of Englishness will become more articulated and that's partly because of the mirror that devolution provides us with and because we're becoming more European at the same time.
Have we really kept the other nations "under the cosh"?
Was it really England's empire?
And how much of it was "English" violence and aggression, as opposed to the violence and aggression of the British or England's rulers?
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Jackanory
from Toque on Mon, 10/18/2010 - 11:28A renowned England-hater, Jack Straw, has launched a broadside at the Convention on Modern Liberty from a little known Blackburn blog.
Is big brother watching you? Are you – innocent and law-abiding – kept awake at night for fear that your door will b...
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I like the "we" - Jack Straw
I like the "we" - Jack Straw regards himself as British, NOT English in everything else he says and does. National loyalties are all a state of mind. The "We" was just window dressing to take away from the fact that he was taking a pot shot at a nationality he absolutely abhors.
"people’s sense of
"people’s sense of Englishness will become more articulated and that’s partly because of the mirror that devolution provides us with"
I would say more to do with the failure to extend devolution to England as a nation rather than any kind of mirror. But then he knew that when he brought the mirror up in the first place.
The young man who took the
The young man who took the name of a key figure in the original poll tax revolt must have known that the English are not one homogenous grouping... "Our empire"?
Must re-read my history books
Must re-read my history books - when I last looked, there were a number of Scots regiments involved in Empire building......
It's funny, though, because
It's funny, though, because he undermines any rationale for continuing with the British state: just puts it down to English aggression. Might as well just have England, then; and we can beat each other up (starting with Jack Straw?) rather than the rest of the world.
I fear there will be violence
I fear there will be violence eventually.
If England continues to be railroaded into regions and into a federal EU state without a vote.
Oppression always leads to a fight against it. If the only method of fighting oppression is to take up arms - people will eventually take up arms.
I want my vote.
[...] renowned England-hater,
[...] renowned England-hater, Jack Straw, has launched a broadside at the Convention on Modern Liberty from a little known [...]