FB post by Simon Day:
I’m a 61-year-old from Kent who has spent the last 20 years in Ireland so I have had a lot of time and "encouragement" to reflect on my English identity and English Nationalism generally especially in the light of the rise of Reform UK PLC and the forthcoming elections. From here, the view of home is clear: England is a country that has been gaslit by its own leaders for a millennium.
We are taught by the media and vested interests to punch down at refugees and immigrants. Why? Because the people at the top are terrified we’ll start looking up.
Since 1066, a tiny elite has hoarded the wealth and land of this country. They built the Empire to enrich themselves, using the English working class as the engine—and often the cannon fodder. We weren't the beneficiaries of Empire; we were its first colony. They stole our common lands, forced us into the mills, and told us to be "proud" of their bank accounts.
What a Real English Nationalism Looks Like:
Land for the People:
We need a Public Land Register. It is a scandal that in 2026, we still don't know who owns half of England. Reclaim the "commons."
A Modern Republic:
If Ireland can thrive as a republic, why can't we? Abolish the Monarchy and the House of Lords. Power should be earned, not inherited like a family silver set.
Education for All:
End the "Educational Apartheid" of private schools. As long as the leaders of our country are all groomed in the same expensive classrooms, they will never understand—or care about—the rest of us.
The Flag is Ours:
The St George’s Cross doesn't belong to the far-right or the aristocrats. It belongs to the Levellers, the Diggers, and the NHS nurses.
I am proud to be English. But I refuse to let my identity be defined by deference to a King or hatred of a stranger.
I want an England that belongs to the people who live in it, work in it, and build it—regardless of where they were born. That isn't "radical"—it’s the only way we survive as a nation.