Campaigners for ‘remain and reform’ need to offer a new democratic settlement to win over hearts and minds
Over the past three years the spectre of a rampant English nationalism has gripped the imagination of the liberal left. The rise of a racist, backward-looking, imperialistic and xenophobic political force has been conjured up by politicians and commentators alike, serving as a convenient whipping boy for Brexit chaos and other travails.
English discontent certainly does lie at the root of much recent turmoil. In 2015 fears that the SNP would dominate a weak minority Labour government helped give David Cameron his surprise majority (John McDonnell’s courting of the SNP on the subject of a second independence vote suggests that Jeremy Corbyn may face the same “Scottish question” very soon). In 2016 the bulk of the leave vote was provided by voters more likely to emphasise their English rather than their British identity. And it was Conservatism’s appeal to working-class English voters with a similar profile that denied Labour a majority in 2017.
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