ONE of Britain’s top broadcasting journalists will be taking part in an online event organised by Yes Inverclyde and Greenock and Inverclyde SNP branch.
Gavin Esler will talk about his book How Britain Ends: English Nationalism and the Rebirth of Four Nations on Monday, March 22, from 7pm.
The organisers say: “Our series of ‘Talks for a Better Nation’ are aimed at people of any or no political party. All talks are open to the public. Tickets are free.”
Please register at Eventbrite for Esler’s talk about his book which is described as “a thoughtful, articulate and important book about the rise of English nationalism and the impending break-up of the United Kingdom from one of the finest BBC journalists of the last twenty years.”
READ MORE: Gavin Esler: 'There is complacency and self-satisfaction in Westminster'
The blurb adds: “It’s a book about history, but also about the strange, complicated identity of Britishness. In the past, it was possible to live with delightful confusion: one could be English, or British, Scottish or Irish and a citizen or subject of the United Kingdom (or Great Britain). For years that state has been what Esler calls a ‘secret federation’, but without the explicit federal arrangements that allow Germany or the USA to survive.
“Now the archaic state, which doesn’t have a written constitution, is coming under terrible strain. The English revolt against Europe is also a revolt against the awkward squads of the Scottish and Irish, and most English Conservatives would be happy to get rid of Northern Ireland and Scotland.”
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