St George's Day: Leaders urged to stop blurring lines between England and Britain

In a St George’s Day plea, Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville-Roberts called for both main political leaders to commit to giving England its own political institutions as she urged Sunak and Starmer to “recognise that you only speak for England”.

It comes after Starmer wrote in the Telegraph that Labour was “the true party of English patriotism” but actually used the word “Britain” or “British” more times than the word “English”.

Saville-Roberts also highlighted the Labour leader used the word “country” 10 times without clarifying whether he was speaking about England or the UK.

It comes after Green MP Caroline Lucas told The National that England needs to start considering its future outside of the UK, as she argued the left need to start being less “squeamish” about discussing England in its own right.

READ MORE: Patrick Harvie: I will quit as Scottish Greens leader if we bin Bute House deal

Lucas highlighted how England and Britain were used interchangeably and the country had subsequently lost its sense of autonomous identity.

Saville-Roberts, who was born and raised in south east London, said she was concerned that while her Welsh children are well served by political institutions, her English family are not.

She said: “I was born, raised, and educated in southeast London to a family that is as English as they come.

“My family’s Englishness – while culturally well defined – does not have a corresponding civic or political national identity. That is in stark contrast to my own children, who not only have a strong Welsh cultural identity, but are also served by a modern democracy and political institutions.

“England’s political leaders will today celebrate their nation’s culture while denying the people of England their own political institutions.

“They will continue the deliberate blurring of the lines between Britishness and Englishness, which not only badly serves the people of Wales, but also those in England.

READ MORE: Five people including child die while crossing English Channel

 “On St George’s Day, I urge Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak to put an end to confusion between Britishness and Englishness in politics. Recognise that you speak only for England – and commit to building English political institutions that truly serve England’s people.”

Saville-Roberts also cited the late Gwynfor Evans, former president of Plaid Cymru, who said that ‘Britishness is a political synonym for Englishness which extends English culture over the Scots, the Welsh, and the Irish’.

In an example of how Starmer used England and Britain interchangeably, he said in the Telegraph: “I’m proud to be English precisely because it’s a place where we can disagree – whether that’s a debate in the House of Commons or in the local pub – and still celebrate a common identity, a shared history and a future together. That’s what makes Britain the strong democracy that’s the envy of the world.”