Is the English Lion Going to Roar : A Study of a Modern English National Identity in the Wake of Devolution

Abstract

This thesis examines if there has been developed a modern English national identity in the wake of devolution in the UK in 1999. The thesis creates a set of attributes which are credited the concept ‘modern national identity’ before these attributes are checked against the contemporary Englishness and challenged by three possible obstacles to a modern English national identity, namely: The West Lothian question, regional and local identities, and multiculturalism. The thesis has demonstrated how the English people consider their own situation in the Union in the wake of devolution. The English people want a solution to the West Lothian question but are divided on how this could be achieved, even though there is a majority which is satisfied with the current system as long as bills only affecting England are decided by English MPs only. There has not been a sudden political rush due to the devolution, but the English people have expressed their growing Englishness in more banal ways, such as the increasing use of the flag of St. George during sports events. Multiculturalism has become a key aspect of the modern English national identity and with the increasing globalisation it seems to be an aspect which will continue to be so. The regional and local identities seem to not be in opposition to a common modern national identity, but the county of Cornwall is a clear exception where there is a small but loud chorus which wants constitutional change for Cornwall.