In April - June 2007, 85 per cent of people felt they belonged strongly to Britain with 45 per cent saying they felt they belonged very strongly.
This survey seems to have been missed by the BBC, which is surprising (sarcasm alert) considering their earlier interest in this whole question of British identity.
7 comments:
Do you think the relatively low feeling of Britishness amongst whites is down to healthy cynicism or stronger feelings of Englishness, Scottishness, Irishness and Welshness?
A question people in the unionist side keep telling people about catholic unionists.In your opinion are they unionist becuase ofthe fear of the economic cost of a united ireland.Or would they be more of the john o gorman type unionist
Torque
Do you think the relatively low feeling of Britishness amongst whites is down to healthy cynicism or stronger feelings of Englishness, Scottishness, Irishness and Welshness?
OK, relatively low compared to other ethnic groups, but, I'm reading the stats correctly... still, 84% of Whites (including the Welsh and the large number of
2nd plus generation Irish, Scottish "immigrants" and other non-English whites living in the sample area) feel they belong to Britain!
I'd like to see comparison stats with nations with other similar constitutional arrangements (eg Spain or Canada), but I think over 80 %,, bearing in mind the survey is restricted to England and Wales, is not too bad at all.
Whilst feelings of belonging to the neighbourhood differ across ethnic groups, there is only very limited variation in feelings of belonging to Britain by ethnicity. The exception is the diverse Chinese/other group who are less likely to feel they belong strongly to Britain (72 per cent) than Bangladeshi (91 per cent), Indian (89 per cent), Pakistani (87 per cent), Black Caribbean (85 per cent) and White (84 per cent) people (Figure 7).
A question people in the unionist side keep telling people about catholic unionists.In your opinion are they unionist becuase ofthe fear of the economic cost of a united ireland.Or would they be more of the john o gorman type unionist
It's not directly related to the survey (which was restricted to Wales and England), but I'll try and answer it anyway.
I believe that very few Catholics presently vote for the UUP and next to none for the DUP. There is however a big gap between the total number of Catholics over the age 18 and those who vote for the SF and SDLP. Logically then this group of non-voters must contain a fair percentage who are unionist, with a small "u".
Why are they "unionist"?
I'd guess economics would play a major part, but in the same way as with the Protestant community, there are many who are disillusioned with their Church and its teaching on contraception, abortion etc. Maintaining the link with the UK is one way they can guarantee certain civil rights, which may not be available in an all-Ireland state.
The sad fact (for me as a Unionist) is that there is no one really to speak for this demographic. The DUP make no bones about being a "Protestant party for a Protestant people", the UUP occasionally make welcoming sounds but in all honesty have done very little in practical terms to open up their party to those of all faiths and none.
Do Unionists really think the south is still the place is was in the past.Most people would still say they are catholic and go to mass at christmas and easter but that would be about it.I dont want to get into a debate about the united ireland thing because i could care less about that but its a very differnt place than it was 20 or even 10 years ago.Anyway is it not time to get rid of the nationalist unionist party thing and have parties for people all religions like the Alliance that has to be the future
I just have to ask though what do you think you would lose in a united ireland
Anyway is it not time to get rid of the nationalist unionist party thing and have parties for people all religions like the Alliance that has to be the future
A party can be unionist/nationalist and still be completely secular or liberal or socialist- look at the examples in Wales and Scotland. NI's problem is that religion is inextricably tied in with the politics and that's not healthy for either religion or politics?
Anonymous said...
I just have to ask though what do you think you would lose in a united ireland
What would the Portuguese lose in a "United" Iberia? What would the Canadians lose in a "United" North America?
What would I lose in a United Ireland?
"My nation" is the simple answer to that one.
Post a Comment