Do you consider yourself to be British or English?

Question

(I posted this last night, well actually this morning around 3am, not realising that most English/British/Welsh/Scottish/Irish were more than likely tucked up in their beds. Time flies hey?)


I consider myself to be English, but isn't it annoying on forms when thats not an opition?
I'm English because I was born in England and have 100's of years of English heritage in my family.
Surely being labelled British, means holder of a British passport?
Correct me if I'm wrong, what do you think?

Answer 1

am a Scotsman but I am proud to be British.,

I also brought my children up to think of themselves a s Europeans.

Answer 2

English

Answer 3

English.

Answer 4

English.

Answer 5

I class myself as English because being British no longer exists... There are more different races being born in britain now than ever and we are having to change our way of life so not to offend them. So to me 'British' is now multi cultural and not English.

I'm 100% English but disappointed with my country for letting itself be taken advantage of.

Answer 6

Indeed it is annoying. I lived 30 years in England & have been fortunate to meet & know many whom I call proper English people. But little details became impossible to ignore, why no St George's Day? being but one. It got so I began seeing the English as an endangered species, ignored by their own represtatives [both locally & globally]
]& fobbed off with football, celebrity mania, soap opera & media overloads of cooking, how to use a paint-brush & flowers-for-the-tsunami/earthquake/whatever. The ascent of Blairznev & the rise of Soviet Britain was the last straw. Now in the Netherlands, I keep in contact with my English friends & worry for them, those who have'nt left also, that is. Sunday moring I watched BBC where Tony Benn had a few things to say. Benn, like Edward Heath a shining example of The Decent Englishman, said he gave up parliament to "do something useful" because people had lost all faith in their own community. This rang true & sad. It is tragic that the culture that gave the World language & technology is degraded by spivs & thieves from with-in, the " ïnner class ", the managers & apparatchiks, the hordes of "äbsolutelies" on the daily drivil of Newspeak. If it happened in Fiji or Upper Volta the caring-sharing hordes would be screaming at us for our credit cards; the Prince Of Wales would make no-end of whining speeches. Pass the bucket please.

No you're not wrong. English is a vast term but the focus there-in is nothing short of awesome... Ken Loach, Alan Parker, Roger Waters, The Beatles, The jet engine, the transputer, the steam engine, Concorde.... the list is endless.. & mostly ignored.

In the supermarket I search in vain for Lucozade & it's trivial but that's the difference, how little things make up the bigger picture. Only half-joking, I tell my English friends "come live here! Apply for asylum! "

Answer 7

This question generates a lot of discussion at home. I tend to agree with your basic idea, being British can mean no more than holding a British passport; or it can reflect the rich tapestry of cultural diversity that Britain is proud of. I'm talking here of our partners in nationhood such as Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales - not forgetting people from Isle of Man, Channel Islands etc. So we are all British. We must then include those who have joined the nation recently West Indians in the 50's, Ugandan Aisians in the 70's and many other influxes that have made our Nation what it is today. These are all British as well - and many are proud of it; and rightly so.

My wife, like you sees herself as very English. I have no problem with this but if you look closer the English aren't so English after all. Probably the most English people are those decended from Saxons (but I doubt if there is a true line left nowdays and even the Saxons were descended from a mish mash of other migrants and nations), but we have had so many other influences in our bloodlines - Celt, Norman (French), Norse (Vikings), Roman to name a small cross-section. So what does being English mean?

This is a good question. For myself I can hardly claim English ancestry in the true sense, I have Scottish and Irish bloodlines in my not very recent past. I may claim British citizenship, I was born in London of English parents, have a british passport, but have some Spanish ancestry. Where does this leave me?

I am proud to be British, and have a strong British ancestry - I am recognisable as an Englishman, as much as my friends can be seen for what they are, Scots, Irish, Welsh and Indians. I usually fill in forms using British - English.

Oh yes, and my wife? If you look at her family tree she is less English than I am having a very strong Welsh bloodline. But I love her anyway.

We should all be proud of our National identities, it has made us what we are, but Nationalism should not be allowed to tear us apart as disunity would be disadvantageous to us all.

Answer 8

Hi Emma Cherry-The Undeniable Reality for me is that I was Born in Middle England --of white English Parents-- with generations of white English Ancestors---- therefore I am English --- England is Located in and part of Great Britain ---- so I am in effect a British Subject -- the Lunatics which are Never satisfied unless they are Interfering with "Reality" are best Left to their Grubby little pastimes of Living in Cloud Cuckoo Land -- Good Luck to you "English Girl" ---- from an Undeniably "English Man"

Answer 9

ENGLISH, but am fine with British. How many Scots/Welsh or N.Irish would say British first? Not many I'd bet.
The time thing is pretty tricky I know, but sometimes you spot the question hours laterLOL

Answer 10

I see my nationality as English , my decent is African. I don't see myself as British because I don't have much in common with people from the other nations that make up Britain. As far as I am concrened there is enough cultural , social or political cohesion and unity between these nations to justify such a term as the United Kingdom. It was just created by an outdated law [ 1707 Act of Union ] to make it easier for English lords to become richer by buying land more easily outside of England.

Answer 11

I'm English and proud of it. As for the form filling - if it doesn't state English then I cross out British and write English in xxx