"Prof Sir Bernard Crick is a former government adviser on citizenship" and likely to remain 'former' once Gordon Brown accedes to the throne, judging by his article in the Financial Times today.
"Mr Brown's disappointing mixture of rhetoric, bad history and perhaps political opportunism"
says Sir Bernard of Gordon Brown's 2005 statement that a definition of Britishness is important in defining a shared purpose across of all our society.
"This idea of national purpose is what Goethe called 'a blue rose'. The search for it can prove damaging."
He also accuses Gordon Brown of being too English in his definition of Britishness:
"The examples he gives of our long British tradition of civic values are all English. The myth of Magna Carta’s importance is once again disinterred and nary a word on the Declaration of Arbroath. He invokes Milton, Wordsworth, Burke and Orwell as British rather than, it seems to me, typically English voices. Walter Scott and Robert Burns are ignored, though both were Unionists, powerful voices for a dual not a single identity."
Sir Bernard concludes that:
"Perhaps rather than a world role under a pretend world leader, we would be left with ourselves and our partners in Europe. Is that too bad? I think not."
At which point one can safely assume Gordon choked on his porridge (with salt of course).
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