AP News, June 5th, 2007
Two government ministers have proposed that Britain inaugurate a new national holiday to celebrate the country's history and achievements: Britain Day.
The proposed holiday, a British version of America's Fourth of July, is the latest sign that Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party is seeking ways to emphasize British values and help restore pride in the country _ after years of suspicions of overtly nationalist displays.
Unlike the U.S. and many European countries, Britain has no official national day. Instead it has more locally focused holidays, such as St. George's Day in England or St. Andrew's Day in Scotland. Britons are also not great wavers of the Union Jack, and aggressive national passions often focus around sporting events involving English, Scottish or Welsh teams.
Surveys have shown that few Scots or Welsh identify as British. Even among the English, only half think of themselves primarily as Britons, according to a 2000 IPSOS-Mori poll.
The officials floating the "Britain Day" idea, Immigration Minister Liam Byrne and Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly, said in a pamphlet being published Wednesday that communities in Britain risk becoming alienated from one another unless more emphasis is placed on what they have in common.
"We must develop a meaningful sense of what we all _ whatever faith, ethnicity and wherever in Britain we are from _ hold in common," they wrote.
Treasury chief Gordon Brown, who is taking over as prime minister when Blair steps down at the end of the month, has also expressed concern about the lack of a national spirit in Britain, from divisions in society to the troubles immigrants have assimilating into a British way of life.
In a speech last year, Brown lamented the fact Britain lacked a day celebrating "who we are and what we stand for," citing the Fourth of July and France's Bastille Day as examples.
