Lord Goldsmith Suggests New UK Holiday

Peter Henry Lord Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith, is perhaps the most brilliant lawyer to have served as Attorney General of England and Wales in decades. His report, “Citizenship: A Common Bond,” is an admirable study of what British citizenship is and what it ought to entail. However, it misses its mark in calling for a new national holiday and citizenship activities. Such things are so very unBritish.

A number of factors served to spawn this report. The rise of disenchanted young Muslim Brits is a direct challenge to the idea of British citizenship as a primary civic tie. The 300th anniversary of the Act of Union and the success of the Scottish National Party in Scotland’ elections got PM Gordon Brown (a Scot) worried about the word “United” in United Kingdom. Add in the usual concerns about a European confederacy and a new EU treaty, and one has all the makings of a government worried about the very nature of the polity it governs.

Lord Goldsmith suggests that adapting the tradition of Australia Day from down under might help. “In terms of a British national day, what may be beneficial is a new public holiday to celebrate the bond of shared citizenship. This would not be a day to celebrate the Union nor would it be a government event. The role of government would be, as it is in Australia in respect of their national day, to provide a pool of funds for national day committees to assist with the organisation of events all around the country.” Were he talking about St. George’s Day celebrations, he might be on the mark, but there are those other tribes in the UK.

As he himself acknowledges, “There were undoubtedly issues raised about how a national day would be received in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. But the important point to stress in this regard is that there ought to be nothing in the framework of the national day to prevent particular areas from creating events that celebrate other shared identities alongside our bond of shared citizenship. People have multiple identities and it would be false for events organised for a national day not to be responsive to that.”

What a great idea! The Catholics of Northern Ireland could hold a “Brits Out” march, the Scots could hold a William Wallace look-a-like contest, and the Welsh can insist on a Welsh-language-only celebration. Meanwhile, the Hindu and Muslim communities could publicly bicker over who really owns Kashmir. Maybe the reason there isn’t a British National Day is because being British means not having to have one.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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