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Separate identities mean flag-waving is a thing of the past



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Published Date: 13 March 2008
By GEORGE KEREVAN
I HAVE never felt British and I have been a life-long republican. I do not say this to be provocative. As someone born in post-war Glasgow, of an English father and a Scottish mother whose family hailed from Ulster (both sides of the border), it remains an intriguing psychological mystery as to why I would run a mile from pledging an oath of allegiance to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as suggested by the good Lord Goldsmith.
The 1950s in which I was brought up was, in many ways, the high watermark of "Britishness". We had just won the Second World War and every wee boy in my street had an Airfix Spitfire and endlessly fought the Nazis with plastic guns (I even had a repl...



The full article contains 954 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 12 March 2008 9:25 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: George Kerevan
 
1

glassbenmhor,

13/03/2008 08:38:51
The Poor old Scotsman your having quite a struggle aren't you,well it will be a lot easier in five years after the dust settles ,do you know I think then you'll be over your Labour f*tish along with the West of Scotland and will by fervent supporters of the Lib/Dems
2

Mr. Lachie Todd,

Edinburgh 13/03/2008 09:18:27
British?

After being formally introduced to an American friend
of an English tourist who stated: " My friend's come to England to visit the Borders and then we are going on to the Edinburgh Festival", a Borders hotelier wryly observed: "Weel, ye've cam tae the wrang place"!

3

EWB,

UK 13/03/2008 17:57:42
Ah weel, Geordie, if you had an Irish (and the Republic generously includes those born in the Six Counties) grannie or grandpa, you could apply for an Irish passport and be the citizen of a republic and not be British.

If you don't feel British, then I trust you haven't got a British passport. After 300 years of Union, I'm proud to be British and don't feel European. If I had your alleged convictions, then I wouldn't use a British passport as a flag of convenience.

By the way, George, as you take your trip down Memory Lane, why don't you tell us about how the Stone of Stone was repatriated from Westminster Abbey? That must have set your nationalist blood stirring.

#2, the American friend was no different than most people from outwith the UK. England is the shorthand word for the UK, which irks me too. Scotland will only be recognised as a separate entity when it gets its independence, just as was the case with Ireland. Until 1920 the British Isles were referred to as England, too, and its people as English.

You didn't tell us whether the American friend asked for a translation of what the Borders hotelier said.
4

EWB,

UK 13/03/2008 17:59:07
Is the Scotsman short of space today to include the reminiscences of some old codger in his dotage?

 

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