The man who said "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel" actually described hiself as a patriot and was pointing out that scoundrels can sometimes pretend to good values in order to be excused. Patriotism has nothing to do with "being proud of the 'piece of dirt' you were born on and everything to do with heritage and achievement of your extended family, your nation. Patriotism can bind people together in a positive way. We should all be proud of our identitiy, wherever we come from.
as was said by someone far more clever than anyone one here, "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel" - I'd go further, pride in ones own country is inversely proportional their IQ - being proud of a layer of dirt you accidentally were born on is obviously crass stupidity - be proud of what you have achieved, not the piece of mud your mother spilled you on.
States come and go, stop crying about an economic corporate union.......it was based on money and forced assimilation into the english language....it was not based on love :(
Billy Bragg is almost alone in speaking up for Englishness as an honourable idea, instead of thrashing the dead horse of 'Britishness' that most English nationalists do. We Celts know that in the English mind, Britain=England - they are interchangeable - but with Scotland looking to go their own way, Wales not far behind, and Ireland looking at being united within a generation, the English are still struggling for an identity - and Billy is doing his best to provide one.
In the 20th century, Socialist governments around the world murdered more of their own people than were killed in all of the wars of that century put together. Socialism IS fascism. Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, Hitler, The Dear Leader, Lenin, Mugabe, Fidel Castro etc. etc. etc. All socialists, all mass murdering statist meglomaniac scum. We can see through the 'power to the people' lie. No socialist government has ever done anything for the people. They rob from the people and give to themselves.
@Leofricson I think what you meant to say was, "what they would like to think is socialism, is actually fascism". A power-mongering dictator is not a requirement for Socialism. Socialism is the power-mongering dictator's poor excuse for staying in power.
Why do ppl have to be patriotic to a state made by the elite in 1707? can we be patriotic to all the good and decent people struggling on this tiny planet in a vast universe?
I'm Scottish. This is the most consice argument for independence [not just for Scotland, but for England, Ireland and Wales too] I recently read Bragg's book, The Progressive Patriot, everything Billy Bragg has said, be it through his music or otheriwse, has spoken to me on a level unmatched by anyone.....
@killall515 What? Sicker than your desperation to shut sensible people like me up? As for getting laid I"m doing fine thanks.And your mother sends her regards!
i think a few people have very much missed the point of this song. billy bragg is actually very patriotic, he was in the army and ive heard him say how proud he is to be british. he is trying to say that britain was/has been taken over by greedy idiots! and yes it did start around the 80s and it is getting alot worse!
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
@6princeofdarkness Lord Bragg of Dorset was in the army for about a month before he bottled it to become a national joke.I"ve never heard him say that he loves Britain.
@6princeofdarkness He proud of being part of this island "britain" but hes not proud like me of the greedy hanoverian 1707 state.........the UK is a corporate business not a cultural entity...if everyones so british they should be able to speak the original british languages such as the remaining surviving ones like welsh and cornish
@6princeofdarkness Errrr... hate to burst your bubble.... 'Billy Bragg was in the Army'...... He joined, but like the middle class inadequate rich kid he was he failed his recruit selection, he ran away as it was to hard for him. He was dismissed. Hardly a glowing 'I was in the Army ' carreer...... Hardly a 'patriot'. 'He is trying to say that Britain has been taken over by greedy idiots'. We all agree, but those 'greedy idiots' are called the Liebor Party and he supports them.....
@6princeofdarkness I think he is saying how proud he is of being English. That's different, you know, though it is apparently difficult for many English people to understand that!
So Britain's not that great then, Billy? Well you don't mind living here. Compare the freedoms we have in this country with most other countries around the world and I think most people would be pretty happy. Calling Britain just an 'economic union' is an insult to all the defenders of freedom who died for this country. Piss off back to your luxury farm in Devon you hypocrate. (+ your songs are shite too)
@1997MUFC1997 billy's a proud englishman. an essex man i think. he just sees the good n the bad too. he stands 4 n exposes truth. he can always come over to america the lost if he's so tired of the uk. come on over to the land of the have's and the have nots=millions living without affordable healthcare. no nhs here. they won't allow it. the rich powers that be. every selfsih dog 4 himself over here. where they always put their big profit before their non rich people. here, the rich come 1st.
In my opinion, right or wrong, if Billy Bragg's views were even half as important and resonant as he sometimes seems to think, he'd still be a well-meaning tosser in need of a humour transplant and a hypocrisy reduction
@RussMoxham Watch his song with Bill Bailey and then tell me he hasn't got a sense of humor. And as for hypocrisy, just because he lives in a big house doesn't mean he's a hypocrite. That's not the point of his message. The point is that everyone has the right to work, and to a state which can support then and allow them to flourish.
The difference: Scottish and Welsh populations haven't been, say, 70% shafting and 30% nourishing the English for centuries as the English have been doing to them. In a scenario where England is China, Scotland, Wales and Ireland have at times been much more like Tibet, even though the Scots in particular (Adam Smith for one) played a far bigger role in the empire than most Brits realise. I don't fancy regional division of England either but England has always had the upper hand in the Union.
PhiloAmericacana Uhhhm. dunno ............ Am a Scot and a european but never a brit. The restoration of the St Georges cross by my southern neighbours has been one of the most positive developments i have seen in my political life
There is nothing wrong with the Union Jack & Britain, just the Queen and all the posh ladyboys from Eaton, Cambridge and Oxford. They are giving 1.25 billion pounds to india to help the poor, but india have just bought a russian aircraft carrier for 2.5billion and they send 25billion on their navy budget, these posh pricks need shooting.
Billy Bragg lives in a modest house according to one idiot, If you think 2 million quid for a house is modest then your obviously well out of touch with reality.He hates his own country and it's achievements, he's always been a complete tosser.
And as he's a supporter of the fascist "Searchlight group" he's a prat also...
@nationalistactivist - I know where he lives because my parents just moved down his way. He lives in a fairly modest house on the cliffs of Burton Bradstock in Dorset and it's not a £2mil mansion - get your facts right. Tony Benn was born into the Aristocracy and (although he renounced his peerage) was considerably well off. Tony Benn was also one of this countries leading socialists. Hopefully this will indicate that you don't financial situations don't always determine political ideology.
@kodeinepresents he shouldnt be living in britain, communist marxist scum like you want to go with him and tony benn and live in cuba. COMMUNISM FAILED. Im a Nationalist not a LABOUR25 !
@nationalistactivist I never said whether I was 'communist/marxist scum' or not, don't make assumptions.
I Could be a nationalist as well for all you know...
No wait I'm not a flag waving jumped up retard living in the past. I'm more ashamed of my nationality, than proud of it SIMPLY because people like YOU give us a bad name you twat. Go back to your nationalism videos and stop wasting your time posting on something you don't even like
His pretence socialism is laughable, he lives in a 2 million pound house with electric gates, come on Billy who are you trying to kid you vile scumbag.
You are a traitor to this country, go away and play your silly songs elslewhere.
I cannot remember the last time Bragg had a song in the charts? Go and play with your scummy searchlight friends...
@DearEngland - personally, I don't understand why you comment on here, you clearly aren't a fan, so why watch his video then make some uneducated comment?
I'm English not British , don't believe in the Queen or Britain. Respect my fellow scots and Welsh. Respect all cultures of England. Down with the Monarchy!!! Independence for England!!
I'm English not British , don't believe in the Queen or Britain. Respect my fellow scots and Welsh. Respect all cultures of England. Down with the Monarchy!!! Independence for England!!
I'm English not British , don't believe in the Queen or Britain. Respect my fellow scots and Welsh. Respect all cultures of England. Down with the Monarchy!!! Independence for England!!
I'm English not British , don't believe in the Queen or Britain. Respect my fellow scots and Welsh. Respect all cultures of England. Down with the Monarchy!!! Independence for England!!
I'm English not British , don't believe in the Queen or Britain. Respect my fellow scots and Welsh. Respect all cultures of England. Down with the Monarchy!!!
Bragg you middle class twit. Singing to other middle aged middle class twits.
That song was poor, but may have suited a drunken busker better. Get you kids back to private school and put you feet up in your nice mansion so you can get the next song of angst out of your system. ;)
@euanrocks A United Ireland is a horrible Idea. It's also ridiculously anti democratic considering the Majority of people in Northern Ireland don't want it.
@euanrocks Is this a manifesto? A wet dream? Ireland pretty much ceased to be unified or unifiable during the plantations in the 16th and 17th centuries. As for the UK, if it were just a question of 'fucking' it (Your Majesty, the commission finds that we should fuck the Union) then probably someone would have fucked it long ago, i.e. rightly/wrongly there are practical reasons why it has survived and why the nationalist movements within it (what about Cornwall?) have found only limited support.
@euanrocks THE Union Flag will never fall... Do you Understand me? As, long as their are Good and Honest men Veteran's and Soldier's Who Will stand and keep you bastard's from ever touching my Union Jack!
@folwert The Union Jack is what flies off the back of RN ships, the big stripey flag thing is a Union Flag - do get it right if you must be all ridiculous about a piece of coloured cotton.
Britain has done a lot of bad and a lot good in the world. The Flag caused the death of nearly a million people in the sunbcontinent through treatment of famine and obviously Imperialism nowadays offends us. A dr Ronald Ross prouldy working under the same flag in India discovered the Mosquito Vector, this work has saved millions of lives in the 3rd world.
The flag represents both the best and worst of humanity. Bragg is at one of the scale, the BNP are the other, both sides are complete morons
@illegalbadgerbaiting 1 milljon? Where did you get this figure from. Imperialism killed so many more and still does. Only the war in Iraq killed halv a million.
Can't argue with the sentiments of the song, after all the great Samuel Johnson made this famous pronouncement that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel back in 1775.
@voicefreson I think some French writer also said that quotation was the last refuge of the coward or something--fortunately I can't remember who :) As for flag-waving idiots' never achieving much--I can see what you mean but for every imperial oppressor, for instance, there's a colony that will only ever get its independence through its own nationalist uprising. The Ottoman Empire, the British Empire, the USSR, etc.--flag waving played a big part in dismantling them as well as building them.
no. the flag stangs for imperialism. even if you don't care about the rest of the world it still stands for domination of scotland and n. ireland by england. it's only saying you're shit if you believe your national identity to be that important...
Suprisingly Bragg describes himself as a Nationalist that wants to reclaim the term from the Right and the White. There's one of two reasons why he'd write this:
1.) He's ashamed of how synonymous the Union Jack is with modern day Racist Nationalism (as not doubt a lot of people are),
0r. 2.) He's ashamed of how synonymous the Union Jack is with historical imperialism.
Either way he's entitled to his own opinion much like the lot of you.
Why is it fashionable to hate our country? This song and the attitudes behind it are and insult to every british (and therefore every english, scottish, welsh and northern irish) person who has ever lived. Bragg should also read a few history books. The British Empire has many positive legacies (as well as bad). This is biased lefty bull***t.
I know it wasn't the intention, but the opening line can have a very poignant reading from an Australian perspective, Given the circumstances of British settlement in this country.
Your Descendants did not Conquer the world with the English and welsh, and rise high the Union flag on all her territories just so nowadays you can bitch and bad mouth there success. It was THERE blood they spilled on Quebec, Waterloo and the Somme. And is this way you repay them?
@HL5IHarrier My descendants fought against the union. You believe they should be ignored? Can you tell me where history, on your terms, should be permitted to start?
Now, let's look to a positive future where I don't feel like a foreigner in my own land.
Research shows that the Welsh speak English better than the English do...............
what craic, eh? fellow Celts - you must empathise - the English are searching for their identity/identities........ I know who I am, adore my Welsh nationhood. and don't mind my English 'hosts' one bit......let them 'find ' themselves..... it may take some time....meanwhile, look at this evidence: their use of the 'language' is execrable, isn't it....?
haha, you guys are pretty retarded with your patriotic ways. This country is disgustingly racist. The only thing I'm proud of about this country is the musicians and performers who see how stupid the country is.
what a prick this guy is the union jack will always fly because we english the majority and the scottish majority and the welsh want it still and if it doent sound to good then bugger off
@WatchingEngland Scotland has 62.4% of the EU's oil reserves, 12% of gas; 69% of the UK's coal reserves; and around 25% of Europe's wave, tidal, and wind renewable energies. The country is referred to as the 'Saudi Arabia' of Europe.
An independent Scotland fully engaged in the European Union would have added protection therefrom.
@scotchprofessor have you been live ing under a rock this past year dont you know that we have had a recession and all our money is gone cus of the last goverment its going to take several generations to get to where we were pre recessioni mean wake up we can bearly aford our membership of the eu
@WatchingEngland If you're replying to my point, it seems you haven't read any of it. An independent Scotland would have been/would be/will be much better off than one tied to the 'union'. England's economy is based entirely on the financial sector, with little to no production (that stemming almost singularly from the policies of the Thatcher era... Thatcher being someone England voted for, of course, but not Scotland). Scotland actually has something to sell on the world markets.
@WatchingEngland Not sure if I understand you here, but allow me to tell you that the North Sea oil that lies in Scottish waters is the property of Scotland.
@scotchprofessor well it was a british comainy that dug it up and it really is the shetlands oil neather ours i hope they get independece it will shut you sepretists up when that happens
@bobslay12 That's the spirit! Whether it's human cargo from West Africa, diamonds from the south; marble from Greece, or food from Ireland; whether it's land in India, or food plains in North America... it belongs to England/Britain.
Im English and my ancestors were Irish and they probably fought against Britain or maybe they supported the British in Ireland and the point is that i dont careif they were rebel or no rebel!
I will always be a unionist and very loyal to Great Britain!
@bobslay12 Yes, and from your page I see you're an EDL supporter. Another racist unionist... surprise me. It's exactly people like you I want independence from.
.
Oh, and please go away and learn the meaning of the word 'troll'.
@bobslay12 How can the people against the EDL be racist? Is the EDL a race? How sad you are.
.
Oh, and that should be 'funnier', rather than "more funny". Any time you need a lesson in the English language, just pop up to Scotland and we'll do our best to help. Why are all racists so under-educated? All these immigrants coming and stealing your jobs and your primary school grammar books?
@bobslay12 They're not Scottish; they're the same as you. And is that your best comeback? Correct spelling... lacking in punctuation, though.
.
Now, could you clarify how "the people who oppose [the EDL] are racists", please? Could you also explain for me how England/Britain is exonerated from any blame as regards the slave trade and the Elgin Marbles?
@bobslay12 Yes, 'they're' not Scottish; they're British, the same as you. It's a political choice, and they're all unionists proud to be fully paid up members of your Anglo-Saxon Empire club.
.
Oh dear, what about Lomboko?
.
"[British] history which you probably had no idea about!". Had no idea about, when?
. I'm stating truths about British history. Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the slaves and all that.
@bobslay12 So, I break into your house with a few other people. I smash up more furniture than anyone else, murder more of your children and rape your wife more often than any other participants do. I burn your carpets, eat all your food, poison the water. I torture your pets, and graffiti the bedrooms. I sell your jewellery, steal your car, and appropriate your living room. Everything's fine though, as I'm the one who was first to leave by the front door. Well done England/Britain. Idiot.
@WatchingEngland You obviously know a lot about the case. If your spelling of the town is anything to go by, then you've clearly never read anything about it in any book, magazine, or newspaper. Another English person commenting on a country they've no idea about. Clown.
I'm affraid the Union flag is not going anywhere anytime soon Billy you stupid little boy, so keep singing your pathetic songs but it's not going to change anything. Apart from your bank balance, but that's why you sing the songs fella, to line your own pockets as you know sad wankers will buy your drivel in song.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Fuck you Bragg you hyprocritical, lying traitor living in trendy dorset to get away from the stink of the poor whites you pretend to identify with but have sold down the river. Just dont come back to Barking you prick you are not welcome.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Just for the record, Billy Bragg has said that he no longer agrees with what he said in this song. But then that's all part of his big sell-out period, i guess.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Well done Billy. It takes a big man to admit you were wrong. Yes, I saw him in an interview make some suprisingly pro British statements, that because Britishness is inclusive and is made up of a number of different peoples to start with it is a good thing.
@KEMPY999H ..." Just a Flag".. You haven't any idea about whats going on..Here's some subjects to clue you in.. The Bill of Rights 1689.. The European Union..The Bilderberg Group.. The Trilateral Commission.. United Nations...The Council of Foreign Relations... The Vatican.. Jesuits.. The House of Rothschild.. Who owns the Media.. Who runs Hollywood.. might be interesting to try to mix and match the subjects.!
@hench0hench Calm down! my message was directed to billy bragg and his supporters to grow up and stop banging on about the union jack and the negative connotations that are associated with it, its all in the past. I like the flag because i think its a great design!
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
oh, your so wise with the shite you read in some communist journal yyou found in the back of a second hand bookstore. i dont vote bnp, i vote conservative. id love to see scottish independance as much as the next ignorant thick dipshit fenian bastard.
He would be voting for the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), that would be the party in power in the Scottish parliament, your not as clue up on politics as you think you are, are you.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
There are no longer any political parties in power in the Scottish Parliament or anywhere else in The U.K. We are being run by foreign unelected bureacrats in Brussels. You are not as clued up on politics as you think you are, are you?
And you are the archetypal ill-informed right-wing moron. He has national pride you twat but he realises that the notion of a "Great" Britain is bollocks and a fallacy residual from the Empire which ensures idiots like you would rather have unfettered and blind devotion to a concept of petty bourgeois nationalism than actually tap into your class consciousness and realise you are being fucked about.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
this is your archetypal left wing cunt who is the reason this country is a washed up shitehole.maybe if he showed a bit of national pride like others should we wouldnt have the problems hes talking about.what a wanker.
Or maybe all the flag waving, jingoism and racism are the reason the country is in the state it's in.
And if you listen this song is actually about finding a new national identity which doesn't rely on looking backwards to the empire but to the future where we are going. Billy Bragg is a genius who has done a hell of a lot unlike some people who comment on his work and call him a wanker.
"Member of the British Empire, that doesn't sound to good to me"
he IS the Progressive Patriot!! We love Billy
:)
WAAAAAAAAAAAY 2 weeks ago
The man who said "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel" actually described hiself as a patriot and was pointing out that scoundrels can sometimes pretend to good values in order to be excused. Patriotism has nothing to do with "being proud of the 'piece of dirt' you were born on and everything to do with heritage and achievement of your extended family, your nation. Patriotism can bind people together in a positive way. We should all be proud of our identitiy, wherever we come from.
Leofricson 1 month ago
as was said by someone far more clever than anyone one here, "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel" - I'd go further, pride in ones own country is inversely proportional their IQ - being proud of a layer of dirt you accidentally were born on is obviously crass stupidity - be proud of what you have achieved, not the piece of mud your mother spilled you on.
PaddyGoo 2 months ago
And the stars and stripes. One world, one people.
MrCopperhead1861 3 months ago
Where can I get a sweatshirt like that?
78RustyNail 3 months ago
States come and go, stop crying about an economic corporate union.......it was based on money and forced assimilation into the english language....it was not based on love :(
3tangle3 3 months ago
Billy Bragg is almost alone in speaking up for Englishness as an honourable idea, instead of thrashing the dead horse of 'Britishness' that most English nationalists do. We Celts know that in the English mind, Britain=England - they are interchangeable - but with Scotland looking to go their own way, Wales not far behind, and Ireland looking at being united within a generation, the English are still struggling for an identity - and Billy is doing his best to provide one.
sionnyn 4 months ago 6
In the 20th century, Socialist governments around the world murdered more of their own people than were killed in all of the wars of that century put together. Socialism IS fascism. Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, Hitler, The Dear Leader, Lenin, Mugabe, Fidel Castro etc. etc. etc. All socialists, all mass murdering statist meglomaniac scum. We can see through the 'power to the people' lie. No socialist government has ever done anything for the people. They rob from the people and give to themselves.
Leofricson 4 months ago
@Leofricson I think what you meant to say was, "what they would like to think is socialism, is actually fascism". A power-mongering dictator is not a requirement for Socialism. Socialism is the power-mongering dictator's poor excuse for staying in power.
Janbees 1 month ago
I'm half Irish and half English. This song pretty much defines why I've always felt more comfortable defining myself as Irish rather than British
villafan666 4 months ago in playlist Liked
Why do ppl have to be patriotic to a state made by the elite in 1707? can we be patriotic to all the good and decent people struggling on this tiny planet in a vast universe?
3tangle3 5 months ago 7
I'm Scottish. This is the most consice argument for independence [not just for Scotland, but for England, Ireland and Wales too] I recently read Bragg's book, The Progressive Patriot, everything Billy Bragg has said, be it through his music or otheriwse, has spoken to me on a level unmatched by anyone.....
WAAAAAAAAAAAY 5 months ago 3
Listen to the the music. If you don't like it, piss off and tell someone who gives a fuck.
edbad85 6 months ago
@killall515 By the way,I"m flattered you only joined youtube yesterday to try and shut me up .Now THAT"S sick desperation is it not?
regvarney 6 months ago
@killall515 What? Sicker than your desperation to shut sensible people like me up? As for getting laid I"m doing fine thanks.And your mother sends her regards!
regvarney 6 months ago
I'm a Scot who believes in:
-A Free Scotland
-A Free Wales
-One Ireland
-A Cornwall who has more devolution, probably has an assembly, preferable part of Wales
-A free England
MrSaorsa 7 months ago 3
@MrSaorsa I agree. A free Scotland and a free England.Shame you and your countrymen won"t be able to ponce money off us anymore!
regvarney 7 months ago
i think a few people have very much missed the point of this song. billy bragg is actually very patriotic, he was in the army and ive heard him say how proud he is to be british. he is trying to say that britain was/has been taken over by greedy idiots! and yes it did start around the 80s and it is getting alot worse!
6princeofdarkness 9 months ago 32
This comment has received too many negative votes show
@6princeofdarkness Lord Bragg of Dorset was in the army for about a month before he bottled it to become a national joke.I"ve never heard him say that he loves Britain.
regvarney 7 months ago
@6princeofdarkness He proud of being part of this island "britain" but hes not proud like me of the greedy hanoverian 1707 state.........the UK is a corporate business not a cultural entity...if everyones so british they should be able to speak the original british languages such as the remaining surviving ones like welsh and cornish
3tangle3 5 months ago
@6princeofdarkness Errrr... hate to burst your bubble.... 'Billy Bragg was in the Army'...... He joined, but like the middle class inadequate rich kid he was he failed his recruit selection, he ran away as it was to hard for him. He was dismissed. Hardly a glowing 'I was in the Army ' carreer...... Hardly a 'patriot'. 'He is trying to say that Britain has been taken over by greedy idiots'. We all agree, but those 'greedy idiots' are called the Liebor Party and he supports them.....
Leofricson 4 months ago 3
@6princeofdarkness I think he is saying how proud he is of being English. That's different, you know, though it is apparently difficult for many English people to understand that!
sionnyn 4 months ago
So Britain's not that great then, Billy? Well you don't mind living here. Compare the freedoms we have in this country with most other countries around the world and I think most people would be pretty happy. Calling Britain just an 'economic union' is an insult to all the defenders of freedom who died for this country. Piss off back to your luxury farm in Devon you hypocrate. (+ your songs are shite too)
1997MUFC1997 9 months ago
@1997MUFC1997 do you have a severe mental disability or is your irony filter broken you fuck wit
KantorekBaumerB14 8 months ago 7
@1997MUFC1997 miss the point much?
lordhargreaves 8 months ago 5
@1997MUFC1997 billy's a proud englishman. an essex man i think. he just sees the good n the bad too. he stands 4 n exposes truth. he can always come over to america the lost if he's so tired of the uk. come on over to the land of the have's and the have nots=millions living without affordable healthcare. no nhs here. they won't allow it. the rich powers that be. every selfsih dog 4 himself over here. where they always put their big profit before their non rich people. here, the rich come 1st.
useacondompeople 8 months ago 2
@1997MUFC1997 Your boring me, kiddo
CWR711 6 months ago
In my opinion, right or wrong, if Billy Bragg's views were even half as important and resonant as he sometimes seems to think, he'd still be a well-meaning tosser in need of a humour transplant and a hypocrisy reduction
RussMoxham 10 months ago
@RussMoxham Watch his song with Bill Bailey and then tell me he hasn't got a sense of humor. And as for hypocrisy, just because he lives in a big house doesn't mean he's a hypocrite. That's not the point of his message. The point is that everyone has the right to work, and to a state which can support then and allow them to flourish.
tommyd007 9 months ago
The difference: Scottish and Welsh populations haven't been, say, 70% shafting and 30% nourishing the English for centuries as the English have been doing to them. In a scenario where England is China, Scotland, Wales and Ireland have at times been much more like Tibet, even though the Scots in particular (Adam Smith for one) played a far bigger role in the empire than most Brits realise. I don't fancy regional division of England either but England has always had the upper hand in the Union.
RussMoxham 10 months ago
The Union Jack = the butchers apron
sweetypie000 10 months ago
It all went wrong long before the Eighties....
turkeylad 10 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Fuck the UK! Independence for Scotland
muiroford1 10 months ago
Great song. We should try and get this to Number one for the Wedding of the elitist at the end of April.
Dannyton1971 10 months ago 3
PhiloAmericacana Uhhhm. dunno ............ Am a Scot and a european but never a brit. The restoration of the St Georges cross by my southern neighbours has been one of the most positive developments i have seen in my political life
theavenger775 10 months ago
Hmm.. Don't most Brits support the UK?
PhiloAmericana 10 months ago
'Labour25' convicted paedophiles. left wing scum. only paedophiles would be with the paedophiles.
nationalistactivist 10 months ago
I'm not going to have a political battle but Billy is an amazing song writer, lay off.
rosiewardd96 10 months ago
There is nothing wrong with the Union Jack & Britain, just the Queen and all the posh ladyboys from Eaton, Cambridge and Oxford. They are giving 1.25 billion pounds to india to help the poor, but india have just bought a russian aircraft carrier for 2.5billion and they send 25billion on their navy budget, these posh pricks need shooting.
stonerosesphil 10 months ago
Billy Bragg lives in a modest house according to one idiot, If you think 2 million quid for a house is modest then your obviously well out of touch with reality.He hates his own country and it's achievements, he's always been a complete tosser.
And as he's a supporter of the fascist "Searchlight group" he's a prat also...
DearEngland 11 months ago
this bastard is living in a 2 million quid mansion and calls himself a socialist.
nationalistactivist 11 months ago
@nationalistactivist - I know where he lives because my parents just moved down his way. He lives in a fairly modest house on the cliffs of Burton Bradstock in Dorset and it's not a £2mil mansion - get your facts right. Tony Benn was born into the Aristocracy and (although he renounced his peerage) was considerably well off. Tony Benn was also one of this countries leading socialists. Hopefully this will indicate that you don't financial situations don't always determine political ideology.
kodeinepresents 11 months ago
@kodeinepresents he shouldnt be living in britain, communist marxist scum like you want to go with him and tony benn and live in cuba. COMMUNISM FAILED. Im a Nationalist not a LABOUR25 !
nationalistactivist 11 months ago
@nationalistactivist I never said whether I was 'communist/marxist scum' or not, don't make assumptions.
I Could be a nationalist as well for all you know...
No wait I'm not a flag waving jumped up retard living in the past. I'm more ashamed of my nationality, than proud of it SIMPLY because people like YOU give us a bad name you twat. Go back to your nationalism videos and stop wasting your time posting on something you don't even like
kodeinepresents 10 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
check out my video on the labour25 paedophile beast list.
nationalistactivist 11 months ago
Billy Bragg has always been a complete twat.
His pretence socialism is laughable, he lives in a 2 million pound house with electric gates, come on Billy who are you trying to kid you vile scumbag.
You are a traitor to this country, go away and play your silly songs elslewhere.
I cannot remember the last time Bragg had a song in the charts? Go and play with your scummy searchlight friends...
God Bless England...
DearEngland 1 year ago
@DearEngland - personally, I don't understand why you comment on here, you clearly aren't a fan, so why watch his video then make some uneducated comment?
kodeinepresents 11 months ago
From a US citizen, God save the People!
annikee59 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I'm English not British , don't believe in the Queen or Britain. Respect my fellow scots and Welsh. Respect all cultures of England. Down with the Monarchy!!! Independence for England!!
Hammers001 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I'm English not British , don't believe in the Queen or Britain. Respect my fellow scots and Welsh. Respect all cultures of England. Down with the Monarchy!!! Independence for England!!
Hammers001 1 year ago
I'm English not British , don't believe in the Queen or Britain. Respect my fellow scots and Welsh. Respect all cultures of England. Down with the Monarchy!!! Independence for England!!
Hammers001 1 year ago
I'm English not British , don't believe in the Queen or Britain. Respect my fellow scots and Welsh. Respect all cultures of England. Down with the Monarchy!!! Independence for England!!
Hammers001 1 year ago 2
I'm English not British , don't believe in the Queen or Britain. Respect my fellow scots and Welsh. Respect all cultures of England. Down with the Monarchy!!!
Hammers001 1 year ago 3
its not coming down now and its not coming down ever!!! get used to it or fuck off, you traitorous cunt
peter1886 1 year ago
From a US citizen, God Save the Queen!
bf1255 1 year ago
Fucking despicable unpatriotic subversive socialist scum.
MrJST87 1 year ago
Bragg you middle class twit. Singing to other middle aged middle class twits.
That song was poor, but may have suited a drunken busker better. Get you kids back to private school and put you feet up in your nice mansion so you can get the next song of angst out of your system. ;)
benbennit 1 year ago
Fuck the UK! Independence for Scotland, England and Wales! Unite Ireland as one country! Take down the Union Jack!
euanrocks 1 year ago 31
@euanrocks A United Ireland is a horrible Idea. It's also ridiculously anti democratic considering the Majority of people in Northern Ireland don't want it.
SprattMatthew 10 months ago
@euanrocks Is this a manifesto? A wet dream? Ireland pretty much ceased to be unified or unifiable during the plantations in the 16th and 17th centuries. As for the UK, if it were just a question of 'fucking' it (Your Majesty, the commission finds that we should fuck the Union) then probably someone would have fucked it long ago, i.e. rightly/wrongly there are practical reasons why it has survived and why the nationalist movements within it (what about Cornwall?) have found only limited support.
RussMoxham 10 months ago
@euanrocks
Totally agree.
cbayrdayCF10 8 months ago
@euanrocks THE Union Flag will never fall... Do you Understand me? As, long as their are Good and Honest men Veteran's and Soldier's Who Will stand and keep you bastard's from ever touching my Union Jack!
folwert 6 months ago
@folwert The Union Jack is what flies off the back of RN ships, the big stripey flag thing is a Union Flag - do get it right if you must be all ridiculous about a piece of coloured cotton.
PaddyGoo 2 months ago
Britain has done a lot of bad and a lot good in the world. The Flag caused the death of nearly a million people in the sunbcontinent through treatment of famine and obviously Imperialism nowadays offends us. A dr Ronald Ross prouldy working under the same flag in India discovered the Mosquito Vector, this work has saved millions of lives in the 3rd world.
The flag represents both the best and worst of humanity. Bragg is at one of the scale, the BNP are the other, both sides are complete morons
illegalbadgerbaiting 1 year ago
@illegalbadgerbaiting 1 milljon? Where did you get this figure from. Imperialism killed so many more and still does. Only the war in Iraq killed halv a million.
Chappuisat 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
60 people vote BNP.
QuietReckoning 1 year ago
Can't argue with the sentiments of the song, after all the great Samuel Johnson made this famous pronouncement that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel back in 1775.
Flag waving idiots never achieve much
voicefreson 1 year ago 7
@voicefreson I think some French writer also said that quotation was the last refuge of the coward or something--fortunately I can't remember who :) As for flag-waving idiots' never achieving much--I can see what you mean but for every imperial oppressor, for instance, there's a colony that will only ever get its independence through its own nationalist uprising. The Ottoman Empire, the British Empire, the USSR, etc.--flag waving played a big part in dismantling them as well as building them.
RussMoxham 10 months ago
what exactly is he suggesting in this song? we're all shit?
yateseyb123 1 year ago
@yateseyb123
no. the flag stangs for imperialism. even if you don't care about the rest of the world it still stands for domination of scotland and n. ireland by england. it's only saying you're shit if you believe your national identity to be that important...
QwertyBstard 1 year ago
@yateseyb123
Hand wringing guilt for a past that none of us actually had anything to do with.
fodsaks 1 year ago
break up the uk into 4 or 3 smaller, much less powerful nations...........
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG!, WE'D BE IDIOTS NOT TO DO IT!!!!!!!
conradmilligan 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
What an excuse for a musician, a fucking traitor is what he is. NS
JackEDL 1 year ago
Comment removed
JackEDL 1 year ago
ENGLAND TILL I DIE. E D L!
cbass8937 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
What a useless twat.
HAASMINIMILL1 1 year ago
Brilliant Song! The union jack and the UK is past its sell by date! Independence for all Scotland and Wales! Time to reunite Ireland as one country!
euanrocks 1 year ago 3
THE UNION JACK SHALL NEVER FALL!!! WE WILL KEEP IT FLYING HERE!
folwert 1 year ago
Have a look at your passport mate,Support British Troops and Support British Workers this Flag will fly forever.
Maybe Billy would like to see the Red flag flying what a joke this guy needs a kick up the bum I don't know about a picture.
Jungleloyalscouse 1 year ago
Suprisingly Bragg describes himself as a Nationalist that wants to reclaim the term from the Right and the White. There's one of two reasons why he'd write this:
1.) He's ashamed of how synonymous the Union Jack is with modern day Racist Nationalism (as not doubt a lot of people are),
0r. 2.) He's ashamed of how synonymous the Union Jack is with historical imperialism.
Either way he's entitled to his own opinion much like the lot of you.
WhyAccordingToWill 1 year ago
Billy Bragg is an idiot.
Why is it fashionable to hate our country? This song and the attitudes behind it are and insult to every british (and therefore every english, scottish, welsh and northern irish) person who has ever lived. Bragg should also read a few history books. The British Empire has many positive legacies (as well as bad). This is biased lefty bull***t.
God save the Queen!
Long live the Union!
CableW11 1 year ago
What the hell is wrong with you british people ?? Why be so fucking sensitive about a flag ?
Besides the two world wars, Englands history should make you all feel ashamed !
What is so terrible about giving Scotland back to the scottish people ?
MrVertigo1965 1 year ago
Home rule for England.
westsaxon 1 year ago
Id like to take down the union jack, then wrap it round this cunts throat and hang the fucker with it!
theblackmafia71 1 year ago
@theblackmafia71 yaawwn : ) never get tired of trying to act the hardman do you ? wanker : )
Che870 1 year ago
I know it wasn't the intention, but the opening line can have a very poignant reading from an Australian perspective, Given the circumstances of British settlement in this country.
godblessreg 1 year ago
Comment removed
godblessreg 1 year ago
Comment removed
janejanejane7 1 year ago
the Union jack is a filthy butchers apron. Independence for England, Scotland, wales and Ireland.
peacefrog1916 1 year ago 3
To all Scottish who hate the UK, Union Flag.
Your Descendants did not Conquer the world with the English and welsh, and rise high the Union flag on all her territories just so nowadays you can bitch and bad mouth there success. It was THERE blood they spilled on Quebec, Waterloo and the Somme. And is this way you repay them?
HL5IHarrier 1 year ago
@HL5IHarrier My descendants fought against the union. You believe they should be ignored? Can you tell me where history, on your terms, should be permitted to start?
Now, let's look to a positive future where I don't feel like a foreigner in my own land.
scotchprofessor 1 year ago
Horrible song! Britain is a wonderful country it is not wrong or naive to be proud of it, long may our Union flag fly, God Save the Queen!
scaifeoyd 1 year ago
@scaifeoyd Britain is not even a country. Have you ever been to school?
RevengeofShinobi1 1 year ago
Research shows that the Welsh speak English better than the English do...............
what craic, eh? fellow Celts - you must empathise - the English are searching for their identity/identities........ I know who I am, adore my Welsh nationhood. and don't mind my English 'hosts' one bit......let them 'find ' themselves..... it may take some time....meanwhile, look at this evidence: their use of the 'language' is execrable, isn't it....?
TheCochyn 1 year ago
haha, you guys are pretty retarded with your patriotic ways. This country is disgustingly racist. The only thing I'm proud of about this country is the musicians and performers who see how stupid the country is.
larryarms87 1 year ago 4
@larryarms87 Aha, your political views sound very unbiased. Don't you think the Empire didn't do any good? Oh, you don't? Read up boyo.
BlightyAndy 1 year ago
I quite like the guys music but for fuck sake he really needs to stop messing in politics. Twat.
Hall1862 1 year ago
@Hall1862 Who asked you?
RevengeofShinobi1 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Stupid cunt you are Bragg.
lutonloyal 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
You are such a prick Billy
sirbluff 1 year ago
@phil5300 you are deluded f@ckwit
shillyshally1 1 year ago
Superb !
shillyshally1 1 year ago 3
what a prick this guy is the union jack will always fly because we english the majority and the scottish majority and the welsh want it still and if it doent sound to good then bugger off
WatchingEngland 1 year ago
@WatchingEngland History will prove you very wrong. In my eyes, it already has. You're just a century behind, that's all.
scotchprofessor 1 year ago 3
@scotchprofessor and you are in a dream world what the ressesion has proved is that just how strong the union is
WatchingEngland 1 year ago
@WatchingEngland Scotland has 62.4% of the EU's oil reserves, 12% of gas; 69% of the UK's coal reserves; and around 25% of Europe's wave, tidal, and wind renewable energies. The country is referred to as the 'Saudi Arabia' of Europe.
An independent Scotland fully engaged in the European Union would have added protection therefrom.
Would you care to explain yourself with facts...
scotchprofessor 1 year ago
@scotchprofessor have you been live ing under a rock this past year dont you know that we have had a recession and all our money is gone cus of the last goverment its going to take several generations to get to where we were pre recessioni mean wake up we can bearly aford our membership of the eu
WatchingEngland 1 year ago
@WatchingEngland If you're replying to my point, it seems you haven't read any of it. An independent Scotland would have been/would be/will be much better off than one tied to the 'union'. England's economy is based entirely on the financial sector, with little to no production (that stemming almost singularly from the policies of the Thatcher era... Thatcher being someone England voted for, of course, but not Scotland). Scotland actually has something to sell on the world markets.
scotchprofessor 1 year ago
@scotchprofessor if you mean the north sea oil no its not scotlands or englands
WatchingEngland 1 year ago
@WatchingEngland Not sure if I understand you here, but allow me to tell you that the North Sea oil that lies in Scottish waters is the property of Scotland.
scotchprofessor 1 year ago
@scotchprofessor well it was a british comainy that dug it up and it really is the shetlands oil neather ours i hope they get independece it will shut you sepretists up when that happens
WatchingEngland 1 year ago
@WatchingEngland What a poor reply.
scotchprofessor 1 year ago
@scotchprofessor
the north sea oil that lies in scottish waters is property of Great Britain.
bobslay12 1 year ago
@bobslay12 That's the spirit! Whether it's human cargo from West Africa, diamonds from the south; marble from Greece, or food from Ireland; whether it's land in India, or food plains in North America... it belongs to England/Britain.
scotchprofessor 1 year ago
@scotchprofessor
Except for marble from greece and human cargo as that was americas work.
bobslay12 1 year ago
@bobslay12 ???
scotchprofessor 1 year ago
@scotchprofessor
Mate fuck off OK you troll!
Im English and my ancestors were Irish and they probably fought against Britain or maybe they supported the British in Ireland and the point is that i dont careif they were rebel or no rebel!
I will always be a unionist and very loyal to Great Britain!
bobslay12 1 year ago
@bobslay12 Yes, and from your page I see you're an EDL supporter. Another racist unionist... surprise me. It's exactly people like you I want independence from.
.
Oh, and please go away and learn the meaning of the word 'troll'.
scotchprofessor 1 year ago
@scotchprofessor
Independence lol your more funny than i realised!
England has no parliament unlike scotland with its own parliament and first minister and the EDL arent racists its the people who oppose are racists.
bobslay12 1 year ago
@bobslay12 How can the people against the EDL be racist? Is the EDL a race? How sad you are.
.
Oh, and that should be 'funnier', rather than "more funny". Any time you need a lesson in the English language, just pop up to Scotland and we'll do our best to help. Why are all racists so under-educated? All these immigrants coming and stealing your jobs and your primary school grammar books?
scotchprofessor 1 year ago
@scotchprofessor
You know theres a scottish defence league!
why dont you go join them?
bobslay12 1 year ago
@bobslay12 They're not Scottish; they're the same as you. And is that your best comeback? Correct spelling... lacking in punctuation, though.
.
Now, could you clarify how "the people who oppose [the EDL] are racists", please? Could you also explain for me how England/Britain is exonerated from any blame as regards the slave trade and the Elgin Marbles?
scotchprofessor 1 year ago
@scotchprofessor There not scottish?
I take it you never heard of lomboko?
And you are really trying your best to make Britain look ugly with its history which you probably had no idea about!
bobslay12 1 year ago
@bobslay12 Yes, 'they're' not Scottish; they're British, the same as you. It's a political choice, and they're all unionists proud to be fully paid up members of your Anglo-Saxon Empire club.
.
Oh dear, what about Lomboko?
.
"[British] history which you probably had no idea about!". Had no idea about, when?
. I'm stating truths about British history. Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the slaves and all that.
.
When are you going to answer my questions?
scotchprofessor 1 year ago
@scotchprofessor
Ok saying as your full of shit im going to say one last thing!
We abolished slavery in 1807 and went on to free all the rest of the salve by taking away the spanish territories in africa long after 1807.
bobslay12 1 year ago
@bobslay12 So, I break into your house with a few other people. I smash up more furniture than anyone else, murder more of your children and rape your wife more often than any other participants do. I burn your carpets, eat all your food, poison the water. I torture your pets, and graffiti the bedrooms. I sell your jewellery, steal your car, and appropriate your living room. Everything's fine though, as I'm the one who was first to leave by the front door. Well done England/Britain. Idiot.
scotchprofessor 1 year ago
@scotchprofessor at least the british govermetn didnt let out the lockaby bomber unlike your stinking scottish goverment
WatchingEngland 1 year ago
@WatchingEngland You obviously know a lot about the case. If your spelling of the town is anything to go by, then you've clearly never read anything about it in any book, magazine, or newspaper. Another English person commenting on a country they've no idea about. Clown.
scotchprofessor 1 year ago
@WatchingEngland Are you kiddin' ? Do you seriously believe that he would be let out without Englands approval ??
MrVertigo1965 1 year ago
He doesn't just hate the Union Jack. He hates England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland... Basically, he's a wanker.
J2897Tutorials 1 year ago
I'm affraid the Union flag is not going anywhere anytime soon Billy you stupid little boy, so keep singing your pathetic songs but it's not going to change anything. Apart from your bank balance, but that's why you sing the songs fella, to line your own pockets as you know sad wankers will buy your drivel in song.
charlesthehammerful 1 year ago
butchers apron
monaghaned 1 year ago
FREE WALES, FUCK YOUR UNION JACK
kabhjp 1 year ago
@kabhjp stop charging me to leave Wales then.
sparda250 1 year ago
@kabhjp seperatist
WatchingEngland 1 year ago
Scottish not Brittish.
evo1dee4life 1 year ago
As an AUSTRALIAN ( of Welsh decent) and a huge Midnight Oil fan, from the song "Truganini"........"I see the Union Jack still remains, LET IT BURN!!"
MusicMaster74 1 year ago
What a fucking loser
JakobGerstl 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
This should be the BNPs anthem
robierd81 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
What a talentless twat.
bobestes 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
SCOTTISH NOT BRITISH!
Fuck the Union Jack.
We want our country back!
evo1dee4life 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Fuck you Bragg you hyprocritical, lying traitor living in trendy dorset to get away from the stink of the poor whites you pretend to identify with but have sold down the river. Just dont come back to Barking you prick you are not welcome.
blenkarni 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
FUCK YOU BILLY BRAGG NO SURRENDER!!!
folwert 2 years ago
Wales!!!!!
laurenandliam 2 years ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Just for the record, Billy Bragg has said that he no longer agrees with what he said in this song. But then that's all part of his big sell-out period, i guess.
donkamero 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Well done Billy. It takes a big man to admit you were wrong. Yes, I saw him in an interview make some suprisingly pro British statements, that because Britishness is inclusive and is made up of a number of different peoples to start with it is a good thing.
britishfirstandlast 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
wot no one has mentioned is the union jack is a miltary flag and only called the jack on a battle ship otherwise it is the union flag
miknot 2 years ago
It's just a flag. grow up.
KEMPY999H 2 years ago 18
@KEMPY999H ..." Just a Flag".. You haven't any idea about whats going on..Here's some subjects to clue you in.. The Bill of Rights 1689.. The European Union..The Bilderberg Group.. The Trilateral Commission.. United Nations...The Council of Foreign Relations... The Vatican.. Jesuits.. The House of Rothschild.. Who owns the Media.. Who runs Hollywood.. might be interesting to try to mix and match the subjects.!
redrik09 1 year ago
@KEMPY999H It is not just a flag ! people have died so we can fly that flag high and proud ! if thats your oppinion keep it to your self dick.
hench0hench 1 year ago
@hench0hench Calm down! my message was directed to billy bragg and his supporters to grow up and stop banging on about the union jack and the negative connotations that are associated with it, its all in the past. I like the flag because i think its a great design!
KEMPY999H 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
And people are wondering why everyone is voting BNP i fucking hate these leftwing bastards.!!!!
QQSlayerQQ 2 years ago
@QQSlayerQQ
stfu fascist scum
ulogisk 2 years ago 10
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Bell-tron
theode80 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
oh, your so wise with the shite you read in some communist journal yyou found in the back of a second hand bookstore. i dont vote bnp, i vote conservative. id love to see scottish independance as much as the next ignorant thick dipshit fenian bastard.
iainc 2 years ago
It's cool though mate. You keep voting BNP, I'll keep voting for Scottish Indpendence and we'll see who comes out better at the other side.
pricktits 2 years ago 19
This comment has received too many negative votes show
There are no mainstream parties advocating Scottish Independence (apart from the miniscule S.I.P.) so I'd love to know who you are voting for.
britishfirstandlast 2 years ago
He would be voting for the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), that would be the party in power in the Scottish parliament, your not as clue up on politics as you think you are, are you.
donkamero 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
There are no longer any political parties in power in the Scottish Parliament or anywhere else in The U.K. We are being run by foreign unelected bureacrats in Brussels. You are not as clued up on politics as you think you are, are you?
britishfirstandlast 2 years ago
@pricktits I'll vote Independence until I die but hopefully we'll gain freedom in my lifetime. Alba gu brath.
evo1dee4life 1 year ago
@pricktits I cantell you neither of you will win? But BRITAIN will prevail!
folwert 1 year ago
@pricktits What patriotic Brit votes for the BNP? I'll keep voting for the Conservatives, you keep voting for anti-English, Scottish NATIONALISTS.
BlightyAndy 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@pricktits
hope the you die soon
bobslay12 1 year ago
And you are the archetypal ill-informed right-wing moron. He has national pride you twat but he realises that the notion of a "Great" Britain is bollocks and a fallacy residual from the Empire which ensures idiots like you would rather have unfettered and blind devotion to a concept of petty bourgeois nationalism than actually tap into your class consciousness and realise you are being fucked about.
pricktits 2 years ago 10
This comment has received too many negative votes show
this is your archetypal left wing cunt who is the reason this country is a washed up shitehole.maybe if he showed a bit of national pride like others should we wouldnt have the problems hes talking about.what a wanker.
iainc 2 years ago
Or maybe all the flag waving, jingoism and racism are the reason the country is in the state it's in.
And if you listen this song is actually about finding a new national identity which doesn't rely on looking backwards to the empire but to the future where we are going. Billy Bragg is a genius who has done a hell of a lot unlike some people who comment on his work and call him a wanker.
roxsie 2 years ago 11