In view of the title, please forgive me if this post turns into a wall of text, as there is considerable ground to cover.
Without wishing to hijack some of the other threads in progress on this board, I can’t help noticing the glaring naivety about my homeland being exhibited in various threads, often by people who have never even been here. This naivety seems to go hand in hand with the groundswell of belief in certain quarters that if a false statement is repeated often enough, and loudly enough, it will somehow eventually become true.
Here are some of my favourites, none of which is any more true today than when it was first stated on this board, despite the number of times it has been repeated.
England is an island.
False. England adjoins Wales and Scotland and is therefore not an island.
The UK is a tiny little island.
Incorrect. The mainland may be considered small in the context of a comparison with other land masses around the world, but size is relative. Besides, the UK is composed of many (ie. hundreds) of islands, and not just one single island. In addition to the mainland, there is the Isle of Wight (now a separate English county), the inner Hebrides, outer Hebrides, Orkneys and Shetlands – and this is not an exhaustive list.
Individual members of the British population are “subjects”.
False. The definition of a subject given by my Oxford paperback English Dictionary is “a member of a state ruled by a king or queen”. England is not ruled by a king or queen, and hasn’t been for hundreds of years. In centuries gone by, English monarchs did have much more power than they do today. Even as recently as 1535, Henry VIII was able to bring about the execution of Sir Thomas More for his refusal to grant Henry a divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. But as long ago as 1215 in the reign of King John, the signing of Magna Carta initiated the transfer of power from Monarch to parliament. The last monarch who attempted to rule like a king was Charles I in the 1640s. His actions brought about the English civil war, which culminated in the execution of Charles in 1649 and suspension of the monarchy itself. When eventually the monarchy was restored in 1660, parliament was firmly established.
England’s homicide rate is rising steadily.
Dubious. The number of homicides may indeed be rising, but so is the size of the population. Thus, the homicide rate is remaining fairly static, as my chart shows. The spike in 2002 was caused by the closure of a number of homicide cases against the serial killer, Dr. Harold Shipman, who killed
hundreds of people.
England gave up its gun rights
False. England never had any gun rights. There was a time, before guns were invented, that no firearms legislation was needed, just as there was no need for a 30mph speed limit in my town, 100 years ago. But Britain has no constitution – thank Cod – and thus no constitutional right to possess guns was ever surrendered.
And thus we now move on to a few other myths, often stated with England in mind.
An armed society is a polite society
It is perhaps true that SOME armed societies are more polite than SOME unarmed societies, but the reverse is also true. Some of the most polite societies that spring to mind are Japan, Singapore and Qatar, none of which is armed.
An armed society is a freer society
Again, some armed societies may enjoy more freedom than some unarmed societies, but the presence or absence of arms has bugger all to do with it. Despite the fact that they can legally own guns in their home country, thousands of South Africans have poured into Britain in the past 10 years or more. Given the choice of being armed in South Africa or unarmed in Britain, they have chosen the latter.
An armed society is a better society
Subjective, but I would disagree – as would our esteemed senior moderator who said recently “England is not better than Texas. Texas is not better than England. By the very essence of the two places, they are mutually exclusive, as they are so very different from each other. It would be ignorant to accept one is better than the other.”
Enough to be going on with. And now, I am going to have a cup of tea while I attempt the Telegraph crossword.
T-P
