On St George’s Day, EastEnders hardman turned gang-whisperer Ross Kemp calls on England to reclaim our Englishness, standing up for a nation rooted in pride not prejudice
Ask people what it means to be English right now, and you won’t always get a clear answer. You might get a shrug. Or maybe an argument. Even some people who are proud of being English – and most of us are – don’t even want to talk about it, following months when high-profile bigots have tried to co-opt our shared identity, and use it to attack people with different skin colour or a different faith.
That’s nothing new – the National Front tried it before – but it is a real problem. The risk is that if we go quiet, we let those few define our national identity and sully our nation. The good news is that the racists and the bigots are a tiny minority. The vast, vast majority of people see skin colour and religion as irrelevant to Englishness. What matters is belonging, commitment to each other and our shared values.
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Today is Saint George’s Day. And it’s an opportunity for the quiet majority to raise our voice. To say that our flag isn’t a stick to beat each other with, it’s a rallying symbol of our nation and our values – designed to bring us together. Of course, Englishness is lots of things to different people. And that’s ok. In fact, I hear there’s a new pack of playing cards (a ‘pocket museum’) being launched on Saint George’s day, with 50 objects that the public feel represent Englishness. From the flag (obvs) to one of those beach wind break things. For me, I’d vote for a cold pint and a chicken kebab.
But that’s the point. There isn’t just one way to be English. What matters is that you care for your fellow citizens, feel like you belong here and share the values that hold us together. Fairness. Decency. Looking someone in the eye and treating them properly. Queuing. Getting on with things, even when they’re tough. Talking about the weather. Moaning about the football.
That’s the England I know. And it’s the reason I love the people who are working so hard to bring communities together this Saint George’s Day. I love the church and mosque who are coming together in Birmingham to walk together, to celebrate their unity and commitment to a shared England.
I love the huge event planned for Gravesend led by school kids. The faith leaders meeting in London to bring their different communities together on our patron Saint’s day. There’s so much happening, and it is those people who are the true patriots of England. Because what they are doing is building our country, strengthening it, and giving meaning to the flag rather than just waving it.
This summer we’ll have the World Cup, which means our unity will matter more than normal. It will be exactly 60 years since the last victory. Our team will be a reflection of modern England, different backgrounds, different skin colours but one shirt and one mission. To bring it home.
Our mission, as a public, should be to provide all the support we can. To show that we are all behind them, one nation cheering them on in the stadiums, in the local pub and with mates around the telly. That’s what the vast majority of people will do – whether you normally follow football or not. Because we are proud to be English. Not of some imagined past. But of who we are today. It’s time for more of us to step forward and show what an England United can really look like. A nation united in pride not prejudice.”
*Ross Kemp is an ambassador for the Together Coalition
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