Under devolution, we now have different administrative authorities, which makes it even more important that we celebrate our Britishness and do not allow the devolved Parliaments and Assemblies to downgrade the importance of being British. Representing a border constituency between Wales and England, my hon. Friend will know that it is even more important that we rekindle and focus on things that unite us and keep the British idea alive
I do not accept for a moment that the vast majority of people in Scotland want nothing to do with being British. People in Scotland are proud of being Scottish, and rightly so, as I am proud to be English. We have a dual identity. It is right that people in Scotland should celebrate being Scottish and celebrate St. Andrew’s day, as we do St. George’s day, but we are all British. We carry a British passport. Scots, English, Welsh and Northern Ireland citizens serve in Her Majesty’s armed forces. We have the same flag. We speak the same language, and our culture and our history are tied together. Anything that undermines that would be catastrophic for all British peoples.
Not too sure at all about his idea for a British Day, but in these two paragraphs, he has encapsulated, like no other speech this year, the spirit, optimism and confidence needed for the fight ahead of us.
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