I
was recently asked to speak at the Redbridge Rotary Meeting. Rotary have a
strict policy that speeches are not to be party political and I was asked to
talk about key dates and developments in English history which caused the
political constitution in England to develop in the unique way that it did and
thereby led to many of the key developments which brought the modern world into
existence.
Here
are the key points that I referred to in my speech:-
Ladies
and Gentlemen of Redbridge Rotary many thanks for inviting me to speak to you
today.
A
few months ago I happened to meet and get talking to your colleague, Tony Betts,
about the uniqueness of English history. He said that he thought you would be
interested. So thank you Tony for my invitation here today to talk about
English history and how our unique constitution developed.
As
G K Chesterton said “What can they of England know who only England know” and so
I do find that sometimes people who haven’t travelled much say that there is no
difference about England and it has no culture.
The
thing is Ladies and Gentlemen that in English schools now, English history is
barely taught and certainly not taught in a way which allows our school children
to understand how our constitution developed as a result of events in our
history.
Let
me tell you what I think is a symptomatic story. My daughter is interested in
history and when she was doing her GCSE’s I happened to ask what she had been
studying. She said history. So I asked what about. She said Hitler. So I
said oh that’s interesting so who was the greatest mass murder in human
history? She immediately said Hitler. So I said no Mao Tso Tung – 95 million.
She looked a bit crestfallen so I said so who is the second greatest mass
murderer in human history? She said Hitler again a bit hesitantly. So I said
no Joe Stalin - 55 million. I then asked who was the third greatest mass
murderer in human history? She was very hesitant by now and asked me was it
Hitler so I said yes.
Although
this story is not about English history it does show both the bias which
our children are subjected which edit out historic truths that are inconvenient
to the Left and also that there is no teaching of any understanding of how
things fit together.
So
what I propose to do is to concentrate on how English history fits together and
focus on the key dates in the development of that unique entity called:- “the
English Nation” and its Nation State: “England”.
To
illustrate how unique England is I would point out that one historian called
England “God’s first borne of the Nation states of the Earth”.
So
here goes Ladies and Gentlemen.
412
Legions depart
End of Roman Britain
The
rise of the Heptarchy – settlement/conquer by Angles, Jutes and
Saxons
664
Synod of Witby – Culmination of the Roman Catholic mission founded by
StAugustine
731
Venerable Bede – Book:- Historica Ecclesiastica Gentis
Anglorum
793
Viking’s first raid
20.11.869
Martyrdom of St Edmund – Patron Saint of English as a
people
878
Alfred the Great burns cakes. Alfred wins a first great victory against the
Vikings at Eddington
His Military reforms
880’s
His publication of English Bible
886
His creation of London as a burgh
890
His promulgation of his law code in English
12.7.927
King Athelstan – English unity – at Eamont
1066
Edward the Confessor (Patron Saint of English Monarchy)
William the Conqueror calls himself: “Basileus”.
1189
“Time Immemorial” “Basileus” (Death of Henry II) Customary law basis of Common
Law (a unique English contribution).
1215
Magna Carta – the King uniquely subjected to the Rule of
Law
Re-promulgated
as manifesto by William Marshall and Henry III
1222
St George’s Day 23rd April adopted (Patron Saint of
England)
1265
First British Parliament in Westminster Abbey Chapter House. We can see the
spot on Westminster Abbey wall where Henry III ran out of
money!
Edward
I uses Parliament to raise more tax for his wars
1333
Battle of Halidon Hill. First of three great victories of Edward III. Berwick
on Tweed finally settled in England.
1461
Towton etc. – Slaughter of much of medieval nobility
1485
Bosworth - Wars of the Roses ends
1517
Martin Luther posts 95 theses on church door in Wittenberg
1535
Reformation - Tudor Monarchy apparently very dominant but parliament is the
mechanism by which even the religion of England is ordered to be changed (and
later back and forth).
1535
Official Bible printed in English
1536
Act of Union with Wales
1603
Scottish King inherits English Crown. James I of England 6th of
Scotland tries to get English Parliament to agree to United Kingdom and
fails
1642
Civil War
1649
Charles beheaded
England declared a Republic and Commonwealth
1689
Glorious Revolution – Bill of Rights
Crown in Parliament is Sovereign. Keystone of legislative constitution as set
out in Miller (Brexit) case by LCJ. NB. Not the sovereignty of the
People!
1707
Union of Parliament - Scotland
1721
Emergence of Prime Ministerial government
England uniquely was the first Industrial Revolution
1801
Union – Ireland – Union Jack complete
1832
Great Reform Act – Parliament begins to increase the rate of
legislation
1922
Ireland – Irish Free State - Irish citizens can move here freely and vote here
as citizens
1937
Republic of Ireland created
1945
Post war phenomenon of two party rule.
1998
Devolution of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but uniquely nothing for
England except now EVEL e.g. Hunting Act for England only - SNP blocked
it.
What
do you think? Is English constitutional history more unique than you
thought?
English History as taught now is designed to denigrate Europeans. As Hitler took anti-Semitism or rather anti-Zionism to the extreme, all Europeans, including the English, who demanded that fleeing Jews be sponsored before they were allowed in here are deemed to be anti-Semites and thus racist.
ReplyDeleteThe second topic they seem to cover for definite is black slavery. Most West European countries were involved but I have heard that it was the Jews who owned the slave ships. But to say so is anti-Semitic and a further example of European racism. Plus, the Arabs were there first and are still dealing in slavery and it was other Africans who sold Africans into slavery. And neither the Chinaman nor the Georgian can be accused of mass murder as that is that is a further example of European racism.
There was an African lady on Russia Today from some organisation like the Society for the Advancement of African Peoples. She was going on about the oil pollution in the Niger Delta. She was happily sitting in London kept by us and no doubt blaming Europeans for what they had done there. My reaction was why does she not get off her backside and go back to help them sort it out in her beloved Africa. But she is probably waiting for Europeans to do that. I expect to complain about her is another example of European racism.
Trump has now been forced to distance himself form "white supremicists". I am going to look up the definition of that expression as I have the feeling that it is used of anybody who is fed up with the denigration of the white race.
I am pleased Paul Nuttall is the new UKIP leader. Hopefully English patriotism will go mainstream. The 52% Leave vote was a manifestation of English nationalism. I think we will have to sue for independence because the remaoners are trying everything to stop us leaving the EU.
ReplyDeleteFrancis
Paul Nuttall was the obvious choice as, hopefully, with his scouse roots, he will be able to get Labour voters to switch to blue UKIP and from an ideological driven party that is more interested in immigrants than the indigenous people of England. There was another candidate who was going to "reach out to the ethnic minorities" and a very posh lady called Elizabeth something who had some good ideas but would turn off the "white working class" as the English are now called.
DeleteNobody seems to know where Julian Assange has gone and I fear for him. Have the CIA got to him? I am hoping that post January 20th he is going to pop up with Snowden in Moscow to be pardoned by the Donald.
Turning to America, Green Party candidate, Jill Stein, who may have helped Killery Clinton lose, has demanded a recount in three states in a bid to get at Trump. But all three states have been found to be clean whereas Clinton got thousands of illegal immigrants and dead people to vote for her.
What is interesting is that Jill was financed in this enterprise by - there he is again - George Soros. There was a comment tht Soros and his fellow billionaires have backed the internationalist and globalist left-wing revolution to gain power for themselves. This fits in with what I was told 30 years ago about the evil alliance of Marxism and Money. The mystery is why the Left did not denounce such billionaires but chose to use them to gain power. Sheer hypocrites!!
There are no degrees of uniqueness. Something is either "unique" (one-of-a-kind) or it isn't!
ReplyDeleteThat said, the above summary does illustrate our unique constitutional history. Bravo!
Clive, (the Pedant)
W-s-M.
You missed out at the end Robin the Blair government's plans for devolution in England - the regional assembly scheme that would have reduced England to something resembling the Heptarchy. We should never forget that, by their vote against Prescott's scheme in November 2004, the people of the North East saved England from Balkanisation and extinction.
ReplyDeletetartanrock