Do the English feel closer to the rest of the UK or the Germanics?

[Libra1509]

Do English people think that they have more in common with their Germanic brethren like the Dutch, Norwegians, Danes, Germans etc than the Celtic Scots, Welsh and Irish?

This English person doesn't.

Nor me.
I feel more Welsh than I do English. I’ve lived here since I was 15. Apart 3 years in an English university I’ve never left.

my ancestry is largely Danish and North European with some Welsh however

Why would they? What is your context?

No

I have never met a single English person who thought that.

An awful lot of them have some Scots, Welsh or Irish in their families anyway.

The context is this OP has a bee in their bonnet about the Decline of Blighty from the good old days when it smacked Johnny Foreigner around, and what a terrible shame it is that it’s now ‘meek’ and more interested in collaboration than world domination. See previous threads.

Why are you so obsessed with British people?

Last time you posted, @Libra1509, a poster asked whether AIs could be on glue. I’m not sure whether you replied.

I never have tbh. I always thought I only had English ancestry ( whatever that is as it's so mixed). I then found out that the man I thought was my Grandfather wasn't and the man who was is Irish. Whether that accounts for my feeling a big affinity to Ireland when I visited there, I haven't a clue. Is the place you feel most affinity to because of nature or nurture ? Probably a mix.

Can't speak for an English person, but personally politically I feel distant from our English neighbours.

For example there seems to be more pro-Palestinian support, anti-monarchy & more ambivalence towards national UK events like Jubilees & Remembrance events in the Celtic Nations. I don't think that England has areas where wearing a poppy would be foolish if not downright dangerous eg West Belfast; Gallowgate.

Back in the late 90s or early Noughties there was a programme called Blood of the Vikings which found that people on the south coast of England are genetically the same as lowland Scots.

Of course, with mass immigration the pot has been well and truly melted even since then.

I think that the English feel closer to the English.

Too big a political divide now. Eg in all 3 Celtic Nations it is still Nationalist parties that are ascendant: Sinn Fein, Plaid & the SNP.

I don’t. My parents are from what you call the Celtic lands of the UK and I feel closer to the Scandinavians than the Germans.

This English person certainly doesn’t. But my parents are Irish, as were their parents and I have lived & worked both England & NI.

I don’t feel closer to anyone for ‘blood’ reasons. I love Wales, France and Italy for their culture, history, languages, music and what amazing places they are to visit. I did a DNA thing and it was fun, and unsurprisingly I don’t have any genetic connection to any of those countries. However, I was amazed and delighted to find I have a tiny genetic connection to Spain, Portugal and Egypt, which turned out to be due to a 19th century scandal in my family of someone ? MARRYING A FOREIGNER, possibly not white, which was still effectively a secret in 2019 due to the depth of shock this caused 130 years ago. Said an awful lot about Britishness and my ridiculous family.

What? Is the AI or the Russians? No actual Brit would ask something like this. Or are you American? That would totally track

I don't think about it really. I'm not nationalistic and don't see where I was randomly born as an achievement or otherwise.

I'm English and then British, rather than English then European.

Definitely closer to the Scots and the Welsh.

Just curious why you don't identify as Irish?

Even if born in England, you are regarded as being an Irish Citizen & entitled to hold an Irish Passport by dint of your parents.

There's a few hundred years of history as to why some people from (or parents are from) Northern Ireland wouldn't see themselves as Irish in the slightest.

I think we do, yes.

The Celtic countries have never really existed as autonomous countries responsible for their own decision making, finances, global reputation etc - I feel when you do, it forces you to make unpopular decisions, not just popular socialist ones that look great as a sound bite but in real life would be massively problematic if widely implemented.

It’s easy for the Celtic countries to be pro Palestine, pro socialism, pro generous welfare as essentially they don’t really have to do anything to make them happen - they look to England to bail them out financially (hello SNP!), they know England will ultimately be looked to to make big decisions regarding defence or military interventions on the global stage.

In that way I feel the Celtic nations never really grew into ‘adults’ and such matters are easier and more practical to discuss with other countries in similar positions.

I’m embarrassed for you that you took the time to type this out.

That’s fine.

oooh dangerous talk!

I’m not trying to be rude, just logical. The Celtic nations haven’t developed the same type of history as us as they have held little power. Smaller nations who aren’t completely financially responsible for themselves, and who won’t be expected to stage a military intervention if they publicly support a losing side, can afford to be rebellious and aspirational and very ‘principled’.

If, for example, Scotland voted for independence tomorrow there’s no way they could implement their socialist utopia and give the public everything for free, because they wouldn’t be able to afford it. They can’t afford what they promise now.

Equally nobody is expecting Ireland to deploy troops to help fight Israel because they’re so pro Palestine. They just say they support them and that’s that - they don’t have to put their money where their mouth is.