"Be proud to be English" says local MP
21 January 2008
Dewsbury and Mirfield MP Shahid Malik started the New Year by calling on all citizens to be proud of being English.He said there was a particular challenge with those of Asian origin who often didn't feel accepted and had often been led to believe that they couldn't be English. Shahid urged people to embrace the national flag and celebrate being British and English. He said "We must not allow a small group of right-wingers to hijack our flag and steal our identity. I believe that patriotism is one of the most effective weapons in combating the religious and BNP type extremism that we know exists."
He continued: "It saddens me that some people are concerned that their pride in being English may be interpreted as being racist, while others want in particular non-white people to feel like they can't truly be English or British. This type of political correctness and bigotry has no place in today's Britain indeed it is detrimental to our very way of life. We should all feel we can proudly embrace Britishness and Englishness without any fear or anxiety."
Shahid continued: "Although I support England at all sports, I don't believe Tebbit got it right with his now infamous cricket test. Being English is about where you call home, where you pay your taxes, where you send your kids to school, where you raise your family and where you see your future."
He said that being English did not mean denying your country of origin and gave the example of Dewsbury's catholic community whose ancestors came mainly from Ireland but whose children and grandchildren were today very much English.
Shahid praised the country and its values: "We have a rich heritage in this country and our values have helped to shape the world - our sense of fair play, democracy, the rule of law, the welfare state and our system of rights are things which been copied and exported across the world."
He continued: "I do sometimes think we forget just how privileged we are and take our rights for granted. We must never forget that millions died for our rights and with these rights come responsibilities especially towards one another to be neighbourly and to create a zero tolerance attitude to extremism."
The MP also confirmed that he planned to marry in early 2008.