St George's Day

Well today is St George's Day. A day celebrated in England not even a little bit as enthusiastically as St Patricks Day. Why is this? Don't get me wrong, I've nothing against Ireland but I find it a little amusing that we celebrate the national day of Ireland over the national day of England. Then it hit me... This is what's so fantastic about England. We're so self deprecating that we don't want to celebrate George for fear of being branded a nationalist, we're such a vibrant multi-cultural society that we'd rather drink Guinness with someone whose great aunt was born in Ireland than toot our own horn.

England is a melting pot of nationalities and cultures and religions. For me, that's probably my favourite thing. For the most part we're an accepting and tolerant society and long may it continue this way. However, just for today, please allow me to share with you my favourite things about England that are English. The reasons why, once a year, we can head down the pub and raise a pint of ale and boast about this little island in Northern Europe...

• The Beatles
• 1966 and all that
• The Royal Family
• Charles Dickens
• William Shakespeare
• Charles Darwin
• The spirit of the Blitz
• Winston Churchill
• Dunkirk
• D-Day
• Bobby and Jackie Charlton
• Geoff Hurst
• Queen
• Paul Weller
• Yorkshire
• Water Desalinisation
• The Sewing Machine
• The Christmas Card
• The Invention of TV
• The World Wide Web
• Sir Francis Bacon
• The Steam Turbine
• The Humber Bridge
• Bangers and Mash
• Brown Sauce
• Fish and Chips
• A Full English Breakfast
• The Lawn Mower
• Gravy
• Isambard Kingdom Brunel
• Sir Isaac Newton
• The Geordie Lamp
• Michael Faraday
• Stephen Hawking
• Football
• Rugby
• Cricket
• Snooker
• Tennis
• Darts
• Bowls
• The Jet Engine
• The Great Western Railway
• McLaren F1
• The Hovercraft
• The Coastguard
• Our Police Force
• Our Fire Service
• The Scouting Movement

I'm sure there's many more I haven't mentioned so feel free to comment. But tonight, just tonight, don't have that Belgian Lager or that take away. Go to your local pub, raise a pint of London Pride above your pie, mash and liquor, then toast England.

And tomorrow we can be British and Europeans again.

Happy St George's Day.