What does it mean to be English? There was a time when one of the perks of Englishness was that you did not have to think too hard about such a question. That time has long gone. The recent referendum on Scottish independence inevitably raised the question of English as well as Scottish identity (and, to a lesser degree, Welsh and Irish). The huge immigration of the past two decades raises the same question in all sorts of complicated ways: about one in nine Britons and one in three Londoners was born overseas. The uk Independence Party, which is really an English national party, will most likely set the tone of politics in the run-up to next year's general election.
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