NATIONAL DAY NO THANKS

It's a sign of the Brownite times that Ministers Liam Byrne and Ruth Kelly are today advocating plans for a National Day and celebrating "Britishness." Now this is the kind of right-wing, jingoistic rubbish which if I hear while semi-groggy as the alarm goes off ( which happened this morning) REALLY puts me in a bad mood for the rest of the day.I was brought up in an Irish Catholic family where English stuff like cricket, Guides and the monarchy never ever ventured. We celebrated St Patrick's Day, did not celebrate Bonfire Night, never ever had local Lancastrian delicacies like tripe or cowheel pie. Our staple diet was Irish stew, fish on a friday and cabbage and bacon. Because I went to a faith school, all my friends were Catholic intil I was 18 years old.

As I grew older, I got to know people who didn't share my cultural or religious background. It really wasn't a problem. Whatsmore, my grandparents and parents were happy here and had no thoughts of moving back to Ireland. They just kept their own traditions, too. A "National Day" for whom? And for what? Will it mean compulsory fish and chips and beer, marching round with Union Jacks, watching crap game shows? The whole concept just fills me with horror. It panders to the BNP, it's culturally inane and, frankly, offensive to millions of people in this country.