Say it louder for the people in the back: “England”, “Britain” and “the UK” are not interchangeable descriptors.
The Jouker was alerted to some classic London Media Forgetting This today following England’s successful 2-0 win against Germany at Wembley last night.
On this morning’s Jeremy Vine Show, the very excited presenter donned his England shirt and discussed the game with his panellists.
They got down to all the important questions. Does this mean England will win the Euros? Will Scots be supporting England now?
READ MORE: Five times the Jeremy Vine show has lost the plot on Scottish independence
After journalist Mike Parry told off Vine for predicting a Germany win – advising he was disappointed with his lack of “patriotism” – the presenter made a rather bizarre statement about the England win.
Parry went on: “Can I tell you why this is so important to the country? 1954, West Germany beat Hungary in the World Cup Final and that created the German revolution which led them to become the most powerful country in Europe.
“That’s what a football victory can do for a country. From the ashes of the Second World War Germany became great again due to winning a football match.”
Later, Vine replied: “To Mike’s point there, this is actually about Brexit. This is about Britain, the whole of the UK, becoming self-confident post-Brexit. We can do it."
Record scratch …
First of all – as we have already established, England is not “Britain” and it is certainly not the “whole of the UK”. It is one of the four nations in this Union which is currently held together by super glue and rapidly unravelling threads.
Secondly – “Britain, the whole of the UK, becoming self-confident post-Brexit”? In what universe?
Brexit is one of the many forces pushing Wales and Scotland towards independence, and causing all kinds of chaos for the people of Northern Ireland.
In a way, Brexit has maybe made independence supporters more confident in their efforts to get Scotland out of the Union – but certainly not confident about their place in the current state of things.
We aren’t sure if Jeremy Vine failed his geography exams at school or genuinely just doesn’t pay attention to anything that goes on beyond England’s borders.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon trolls England with cheeky 'congratulations' post after Germany victory
It’s not the first time his Channel 5 programme has been noted for its approach to matters of the Union.
The most notorious example was when Princess Diana’s old butler Paul Burrell was invited on and asked for his views on independence.
“I think that the United Kingdom is stronger together than they are apart,” he pondered aloud. “I mean, for goodness sake, Scotland, by itself? How’s it going survive? It has … what does it have? … Oil, and a monster in a lake … and … whisky.”
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