Clairwil Grovels For A Knighthood.

Hello,

I note the government are considering forcing the youth of Britain to swear allegiance to Britain, as a means of increasing integration. I'm not sure what the penalty is for refusing to take part as I would have done at eighteen and would do now.

It would seem I'm not alone in this;

'One recent poll, for example, found that only 27% of Scots said they were British, 35% of Welsh people and 48% of English.'

I can't see how forcing people to take part in a ceremony that requires them to say things they don't believe (lie) will have any bearing on life in the UK. If anything it is likely to make people feel more alienated and resentful, not less.

I believe that the British state should be dismantled for a whole host of reasons, not least that it is a bad deal for all the countries concerned. I'd happily swear allegiance to Scotland provided I didn't need to swear allegiance to the Queen, who I think should be issued with her p45 along with the rest of her pointless freeloading family.

I'm aware that people seeking British citizenship are forced to swear allegiance to the crown at present. I recently spend a very pleasurable ten minutes hooting with laughter at a Turkish family who were due to take part in one of these ridiculous ceremonies. They took it good humour and seemed grateful for my advice to cross their fingers during the bits about the crown.

The report also correctly notes that no-one seems terribly sure what Britishness actually is. As far as I can make out Britishness is a rather stereotyped vision of upper class southern English culture and a belief that you have a God given right to victory in sporting events and wars. It would interesting to see a demographic breakdown of the English statistics on who considers themselves British. I suspect the good old northerners are more likely to consider themselves English as opposed to British, I've no real evidence for that assertion just a fondness and slight bias towards the northern English, who in my experience are for the most part a fine bunch.

Cheerio