I got another letter in my local newspaper, the Shropshire Star.
As somebody who takes a keen interest in English nationalism and the question of devolution, I was particularly disturbed to see a statement from the BNP implying that they are in some way a part of this movement. This is simply not the case. There is a large and active community on the internet dedicated to bringing the subject of devolution in England into the public eye. Making St Georges Day a bank holiday, having a devolved parliament for England similar to the one in Scotland and the abolition of the Barnett Formula which means Scots receive an average of over £1,200 per year per person more than English people in funding from the government are the issues that English nationalists are interested in, not immigration or any of the other foul policies of the BNP. Everybody I speak to finds the views of the BNP thoroughly reprehensible, a feeling that is clearly repeated throughout the country as the BNP failed to gain a single seat in parliament.
It is important that English nationalism is not tied in to extreme right wing groups like the BNP. The BNP's manifesto says they will establish a parliament for England - but it will only be a parliament for Anglo Saxon (ie. white) English people. This is not what English nationalists want. English people come in all shapes, sizes and colours - your nationality is something deep inside, not skin deep. All English nationalists want is a fair deal for England. They want English people to elect politicians to sit in an English parliament and work for English people. They want to stop the situation where Scottish and Welsh MP's can impose legislation on England that doesn't affect Scotland or Wales while English MP's have no control over devolved issues in Scotland or Wales.
University top-up fees were introduced into England because of the votes of whipped Scottish MP's. English MP's voted against their introduction. The legislation did not apply to Scotland. Wlesh people no longer pay for their prescriptions or for the care of the elderly because the Welsh Assembly has secured the funding to cover the cost of this. There is nobody fighting Englands corner to get these kind of benefits for English people. The parliament at Westminster, despite what the government try and convince us, is not an English parliament. It is the seat of the government of the United Kingdom of which England is a constituent part. England is the only country in Europe without any direct political representation and with Labour losing the popular vote in England to the Conservatives by some 66,000 votes, it is also under Minority Rule of a government it did not elect.
Still haven't heard from the UCI about why they won't allow an English team in the Tour of Britain cycle race, or any other race for that matter. I was hoping the Tour of Britain person who emailed me the other night might have extracted even a courtesy reply from them to say they've got my email but apparently not.
On the Googlebomb front, we're dropping down the ranks - Tour of Britain now points to this blog as the 4th match. Please help spread the word about this injustice by putting a Tour of Britain link on your website pointing to the Tour of Britain target on this blog.