Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Just What Does It Mean To Be Called British These Days?
Express.co.uk ^ | 6/13/2011

Posted on 06/14/2011 11:11:29 AM PDT by Altura Ct.

THE nation state is the greatest vehicle ever invented by mankind for the promotion of democracy and prosperity.

That is because it is essentially an extension of the family with citizens enjoying a shared sense of belonging, unity and heritage.

The tragedy of modern Britain is that our traditional identity is under remorseless political attack.

Mass immigration, the dogma of multiculturalism and the growing power of the European Union have conspired to undermine our British nationhood.

Our once unified country is in danger of becoming nothing more than a land mass filled with disparate peoples.

Despite the opposition of the vast majority of the British public the transformation of our society appears to be gathering pace.

In the year to March 2011 no fewer than 586,000 immigrants were granted entry, the vast majority from Asia and Africa. It was by far the highest total in our history, more than 10 times the average level of immigration in the Eighties.

As border controls weaken so the concept of British citizenship is becoming increasingly meaningless. The right to hold a British passport used to be cherished but today that privilege has been utterly devalued.

According to figures released last week 203,600 British passports were dished out to immigrants, a 57 per cent increase on the figure for 2008. It is the same dismal story in other aspects of our porous immigration system.

Earlier this month a Parliamentary committee revealed that the Home Office had effectively granted an amnesty to 160,000 bogus refugees, allowing them to settle here permanently and claim benefits.

The Government is so enfeebled that it cannot even deport even the most undesirable foreigners.

It has been reported that more than 100 serious foreign criminals last year exploited human rights laws to escape deportation.

Among those allowed to remain here is a violent drug dealer from Trinidad, a Nepalese killer and a Bolivian whom judges decided could not be sent home because he had bought himself a pet cat. Such madness is likely to worsen as Britain sinks deeper within the EU and the last vestiges of immigration controls are obliterated.

There will soon be a vast new influx of arrivals from Bulgaria and Romania once the citizens of those two member states are allowed to travel and settle anywhere in Europe without restrictions, as the Brussels Parliament recommended last week.

Even worse more than 70million Turkish Muslims will have the right to come to Britain if Turkey is granted EU membership, as the coalition wants.

What we are witnessing is a grotesque form of assisted national suicide.

In the brave new world of uncontrolled immigration and EU rule the very concept of Britishness is an irrelevance. All solidarity disappears, replaced by bewilderment and distrust.

All around us we can see the dire consequences of the immigration free-for-all, whether it be the spread of sharia law or the prevalence of violent gangs in our inner cities or the rise of Islamic extremism.

It is a bizarre irony that in the name of liberal tolerance towards immigration we are now importing a new kind of gross intolerance which is utterly inimical to British values.

In the East London borough of Tower Hamlets, for instance, where there is a large Muslim population, gangs of zealots now roam the streets posing as a self-appointed moral police, demanding that women wear the veil and that gay pubs be closed.

Mass immigration has also meant the destruction of the social contract on which the benefits system, the NHS and many of our public services are based. The founding principle was one of reciprocity: people would be provided with welfare, education or healthcare in return for their contributions to British society through tax, national insurance, work or caring for others.

But now that ethic has been shattered. We are now forced to support millions of people who have absolutely no connection to Britain, such as the 12-strong Ethiopian family recently given a huge house in East London at a cost to the taxpayer of more than £75,000 a year.

The political elite tries to assuage the justifiable anger of the British by peddling deceitful propaganda such as the false claim that immigration has boosted our economy.

Actually it has done just the opposite, dragging down wages and imposing a crippling burden on our infrastructure.

AN EVEN greater myth beloved of the Left is that Britain is “a nation of immigrants” so there is supposedly nothing unique about the modern influx from Asia and Africa. But this is just a lie.

In fact Britain was until the Seventies one of the most homogenous nations. Moreover the small numbers that arrived here, such as Irish labourers, or Jewish or French refugees fleeing religious persecution, were steeped in the Judeo-Christian culture that built our civilisation.

It was because Britain was so homogenous that it was so successful. But now we are a nation riven by ethnic divisions where patriotism is regarded with suspicion and all public policy is viewed through the prism of race.

In a land where the once uplifting ideal of national pride has been transmuted into nothing more than xenophobia decline is inevitable.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: culture; immigration; race
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-27 next last

1 posted on 06/14/2011 11:11:31 AM PDT by Altura Ct.
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

To have bad teeth and be an Anti-Semite.


2 posted on 06/14/2011 11:12:26 AM PDT by US Navy Vet (Go Packers! Go Rockies! Go Boston Bruins! See, I'm "Diverse"!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.
Just What Does It Mean To Be Called British These Days?

It means never again having to say you're a Pakistani.

3 posted on 06/14/2011 11:16:04 AM PDT by Mr. Mojo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

uber-liberal, scared $hi+less of muslims and believe in global warming?


4 posted on 06/14/2011 11:21:00 AM PDT by FrankR (A people that values its privileges above its principles will soon lose both.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

Wow, this could have just as easily been written about the US.


5 posted on 06/14/2011 11:24:36 AM PDT by T. P. Pole
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: T. P. Pole

I referred to a coworker as African-American in 1976. He was from the Bahamas. Boy did he lay into me.


6 posted on 06/14/2011 11:37:02 AM PDT by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: T. P. Pole

I referred to a coworker as African-American in 1976. He was from the Bahamas. Boy did he lay into me.


7 posted on 06/14/2011 11:37:22 AM PDT by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.
I hope that our pushers of multiculturalism and replacement of the American people notice that this article about the end of Great Britain is about LEGAL immigration.

Legal, illegal, it doesn't matter, destroying your culture and national identity, and replacing yourselves with a wholly new electorate that wants a different nation than your own, is not a smart, or patriotic thing to do.

8 posted on 06/14/2011 11:38:24 AM PDT by ansel12 (Bachmann/Rollins/Romney=destruction for Bachmann, but it sure helps Romney. WHY?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

I hear ya, UK.

However, we’re not far behind.


9 posted on 06/14/2011 11:43:44 AM PDT by Da Coyote
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

muslim-pandering homo?


10 posted on 06/14/2011 11:50:53 AM PDT by ConservativeDude
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

Most people would identify with being English, Scottish or Welsh first and foremost these days.

British is just what my passport says.


11 posted on 06/14/2011 11:51:03 AM PDT by Mitch86
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

All of that AND the spectre of Chuckles as King!
About the only one in England I would wish a burkha on would be Chuck’s mare, Camilla.
Pray for Great Britain-we are watching national suicide.


12 posted on 06/14/2011 11:59:13 AM PDT by ClearBlueSky (Whenever someone says it's not about Islam-it's about Islam. Jesus loves you, Allah wants you dead!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mitch86
Most people would identify with being English, Scottish or Welsh first and foremost these days.

British is just what my passport says.

Yes, I was wondering about that. It's funny because in ads for the new Torchwood television series here, Welsh heroine Gwen takes strong exception at being called English by what appears to be an American.

As an avid history student, I am well aware that "nationality" is a slippery term with denizens of the U.K. But with the devolution of power to regional assemblies and the growth of the Scots independence movement, I wonder myself about the long term prospects for the U.K. What are your thoughts on the matter?

13 posted on 06/14/2011 12:07:25 PM PDT by Lysandru
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: ansel12
Legal, illegal, it doesn't matter, destroying your culture and national identity, and replacing yourselves with a wholly new electorate that wants a different nation than your own, is not a smart, or patriotic thing to do.

Yes, I've often posted that Legal Immigration is just as bad as illegal if not done properly. The 1965 Immigration Reform Act was the worst thing that ever happened in United States History. And it went almost unnoticed.

Assimilation has its limits. But the Liberals and do-gooders cannot contemplate this. They are as stupid as they are evil. And there's the environmental part of the situation which isn't even mentioned but should be.

As far as Britain is concerned, well they if anything are just as foolish as the US when it comes to Immigration, maybe worse. The average Brit got conned when he/she voted for the Labor Candidates who promised to take care of their every need. These people back-stabbed the British Public with their immigration policy. And the British Press, particularly the BBC cheered the whole thing on. The Brits should have listened to Enoch Powell. He was a modern day profit. He was right about just about everything.
14 posted on 06/14/2011 12:09:12 PM PDT by truthguy (Good intentions are not enough.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.

It just means the take over of U.K. is very successful and soon the U.K. will be considered just another troubled country at war within it’s self and ruled by sharia law.Very soon there will no more countries to go too.


15 posted on 06/14/2011 12:10:02 PM PDT by moonshinner_09
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lysandru

To be completely honest, I am unsure what the future holds. In England at the moment, there appears to be a mentality of “bollocks to ‘em” with regards to the Scots. If they want to go on their own, good riddance. At least we won’t have to subsidise their prescriptions anymore. I’m not saying I agree with this, just that’s what most of the people I talk to, and blogs I read, seem to be thinking. Overall, I think it’d be sad if the union was broken up, despite my preference of being called English over British. We are stronger united, although a plus point would be England would probably never have a Labour government for a long, long time!

Then there’s the issue of the North Sea Oil Reserves. Can’t see any UK government allowing the scots to go it alone with all that money lying at the bottom of the ocean, regardless of how powerful the Scottish Nationalists become. These are interesting times.


16 posted on 06/14/2011 12:26:09 PM PDT by Mitch86
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Mitch86

I’ve been corrected by an Englishman who said he was “British.” And corrected by an English person who said she was “English.” For an outsider, it can get confusing!


17 posted on 06/14/2011 1:24:14 PM PDT by miss marmelstein (FR haters of Sarah Palin are wearing me out)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: miss marmelstein

“British by birth, English by the grace of God” :)


18 posted on 06/14/2011 1:56:35 PM PDT by Mitch86
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Mitch86

I am as Anglophilic as any grandson of Irish immigrants can be. I was stationed in the UK for five years and count them as seminal years of my life/career. Therefore, it pains me to say that the once-great UK is now paying the price for empire. The same can be said of France and Italy.


19 posted on 06/14/2011 2:57:50 PM PDT by Ax
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: US Navy Vet

Most British people do not have bad teeth, and Britain is one of the least anti-semitic nations, contrary to popular belief.

Many beloved cultural icons from high street chains to entertainers in Britain have been openly Jewish.

And whilst Euope embraced Fascism and Communism, it was Britain who REJECTED the anti-semitism and fascism of Oswald Mosley and his British Fascists. And the modern Brit has time after time rejected the racist and anti-semitic BNP party and its offshoot the EDL, also a group with questionable attitudes to blacks and Jews amongst others.

It was Britain who took in tens of thousands of Jews from Europe before 1939. And it was Britain who stood against Nazism, alone for over a year as it turned out.

And it was Britain who gave the world the Balfour Declaration, not America or France or Russia.

Even when between 1944 and 1948, Jewish terrorists in Palestine such as the Irgun and Stern Gang were murdering and bombing British soldiers, there was little antisemitism as a result.

Frankly, I am getting sick and tired of people distorting British history to portray the British people as antisemitic. The British have been the opposite.

Antisemitism today is confined to various groups such as the BNP/neo nazis on one side and the more extreme pro-Palestinians on the other.


20 posted on 06/14/2011 3:44:24 PM PDT by the scotsman (I)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-27 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson