[The Weeping Angel]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... AuFoFDOhKQ

A Green party council candidate is attempting to evict his Labour opponent from a house he owns using a no-fault notice, despite his party supporting a ban on exactly such kinds of eviction.

William Pedley, who is standing for the Greens in the Victoria ward of North Northamptonshire council, has served a section 21 notice on his tenant and political rival Kelly Duddridge, who has lived in the property for 10 years.

Duddridge remains in the property but says the threat of eviction has caused her and her family significant stress, while Labour has accused Pedley of hypocrisy given his party’s opposition to no-fault evictions. Other Green party politicians have been accused of showing hypocrisy by calling for more clean energy while opposing solar farms and electricity pylons in their local areas.

[Boiler]

The Greens do seem to have conflicting messaging I'll grant you, be it on energy or railways in particular.

[The Weeping Angel]

It's because they're not a party, more a sect for middle-class people to feel good about themselves.

[Youngian]

I'd assume Green Party voters are in a higher state of anxiety than voters of other parties. Especially if they're reading the likes of George Monbiot every week. You're now a planet trasher for buying tomatoes according to one of his columns. Adjusting your lifestyle choices to be kinder on the planet and animals is however an admirable trait.

[The Weeping Angel]

[Killer Whale]

I've always wondered if there's anything less English than celebrating St George's day.

[Boiler]

It's not something I remember being made a fuss of when I was growing up in the 70s - rather like VE Day and Remembrance Sunday. You might have got a flypast from what's now known as the BBMF on the former, but that's it?

[Abernathy]

I've always wondered if there's anything less English than celebrating St George's day.

Very good point. Broadly speaking, it's not a typically "English" thing, if such a thing can be said to exist. Samuel Johnson famously opined that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, and that certainly fits with reference to the likes of Farage, Yaxley-Lennon, and those hateful weirdos of the EDL.

Edwina Currie, of all people, said something interesting about this the other day, which is that nationalism - any nationalism - is okay as long as it's just fun. Light-hearted, having a laugh. Cardboard helmets and home-made chain-mail smocks. See-you Jimmy hats, glengarrys, and kilts. Big rubber leeks and daffodils. French rugby fans in cockerel hats.

It only becomes problematic when it is conflated with, and infected by, hatred, racism, and xenophobia like that espoused by Farage and the EDL. And there's the whole problem with the whole St George's Day and English nationalism thing. It has been so infected by thuggery and xenophobia that decent English people are reticent to get on board with it, or even actively repulsed by it. Scots football fans, aka The Tartan Army, were famously so disgusted by the behaviour of belligerent England supporting gammons abroad that they basically re-invented themselves as a totally contrasting fan body, going abroad to support the national team and well, being conspicuously well-behaved, embracing local customs, and local people, wherever they were. Having fun, to echo Edwina Currie's point.

[Youngian]

The RoW absorbed England's language, sports, dress, inventions etc so there's not much point in flaunting it.
David Starkey in a rare moment of clarity is an interesting proponent of this view. So England doesn't have a colorful national costume because trousers were once the English national costume. But then adopted everywhere. (Haven't checked this claim but will unwisely take Dr Starkey's word for it).
And then there's the absorbtion of transnational cultures such as medieval knights trotting off to Jerusalem to loot and pillage.
Even Anglo Saxon progression was about apeing the mores of the Franks and Rome.

[Killer Whale]

There's an aspect of "when is it international men's day, then?" about this, I think. There is one, but there isn't that much of a need for one.

[Tubby Isaacs]

That's an interesting argument by Starkey, and I'm inclined to take it seriously because it's very much not "well he would say that, wouldn't he".

I've only seen St George's Day made anything of in two places. One was Hayes, which reflected either local far right influence or some sort of reflection that Southall is next door, so let's both have parties, depending on your point of view. The other was Tower Hamlets, at the school right by my flat, which I thought was a nice touch.

[Andy McDandy]

April 23rd, 2016, I was with my partner in Nottingham. The main square was full of people (it was a Saturday) and there were all sorts of events going on to mark both SGD and Shakespeare's birthday. People of all shapes, sizes and colour schemes having a lovely day in the spring sunshine.

We popped into a pub for some lunch. The British-Asian barman took our order and we sat down. Then more people began to come in. They were dressed in a mix of Union Flag and George Cross t-shirts, sportswear, and t-shirts with slogans encouraging people to either show their support for the armed forces, or to die unpleasantly.

The young barman disappeared, and instead two rather burly middle aged men took over behind the bar. People in the pub began to shout abuse at any non-white (or obviously 'other') people going past. One chap started doing multiple Musk salutes. We ate our lunch in record time and fucked off, but not before several police officers came through - all smiles and "now, we're not going to have any problems today, are we?" and truncheons at the ready as the Gypsy warning was delivered.

And that's the problem. Aggressive, negative 'non-fun' nationalism can't even keep to itself. It has to attack or denigrate anyone trying to express themselves in a peaceful, inclusive, or fun manner. Ask anyone in that pub what they thought of the thousands outside celebrating the country's patron saint and best known literary figure and they'd all give the same answer.

Fuckin' poofs.