#1585

i dont want to get too bogged down in this, i’m being pedantic, but i’m just responding to your

which I think is wrong and way more Brits at it than saying “Britain is a country”

#1586

Just to clarify: “country” = three countries and a bit of Ireland?

Obviously their is a lot of leeway and confusion over the linguistics. The UK is perhaps a better example as it at least references that there is more than one single constituent part.

#1587

it’s a country, or preferably a “state”, made up of four nations.

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#1588

That’s not really on like is it.
So with that logic a union of numerous countries = 'the country"
Imagine if in the EU they just refereed to all of them as “the country”

#1589

Good to know. Was actually going to @you in my reply, but was also interested in @ma0sm’s experience as an English person in Holland…

Lol

2 Likes
#1590

i dunno pal.
not sure we’re communicating very effectively here.

2 Likes
#1591

I consider the UK to be a country more than I consider England/Scotland/Wales/NI to be countries (and I’ve got no clue what the Channel Islands and all the other bits like that are, that’s all too complicated).

I consider myself British more than English, because I’m a British citizen. I see English/Scottish etc as being more about ethnic identity. I am half-English but I’m not British by birth due to the citizenship laws at the time (I got my citizenship through registration, which is like the kiddie version of naturalisation). So if I didn’t have an English parent then I wouldn’t see much need at all to identify as English just because I live here, when my paperwork says British on it.

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#1592

Enjoyed the live edit on this :grinning:

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#1593

Was the USSR a country?

#1594

or Russia today. Or China.

#1595

No I don’t think we are.

To be honest my initial post was worded unnecessarily mean spirited but to be honest I also didn’t expect quite so many people to be so pro the idea that the idea of us not being one actual country despite all of the history (and present!)
Couldn’t be arsed going round in circles with this as its obviously pushed a few buttons for folks here but I’ll some up by saying:

Britain and the UK are unions of countries.
We are not a single country.
That term is quite loaded and used by quite right wing elements or politicians when it suits them.
The people of Northern Ireland are entitled to be Irish. I am not part of the same country as Boris Johnson. If yous haven’t beaten the Irish out of us already you’ll certainly not be doing it now with muddled linguistics.

#1596

i honestly don’t think you’ve understood me, sorry for being unclear.

I’m just saying Britain is NOT a nation. Calling it a nation is a way more reactionary, imperial way of framing it than calling it a country. I think country is ok but it’s not a hill I would die on. State is the most accurate.

2 Likes
#1597

I’ve heard it called both a country and nation a lot tbf.
It seems in many cases the terms are treated as interchangeable, particularly at the highest levels of power.
It’s a heated topic it seems.

#1598

I am enjoying this debate but it’s a little bit like

image
image750×1624 76.8 KB

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#1599

Are we going to need a thread called:

“Rolling thread for when the Brits are at it in the ‘Rolling Thread for when the Brits are at it again’ thread”
?

:wink::grinning::+1:

5 Likes
#1600

I don’t want to sound like a pedant being at it, but if you asked most people from around the world if the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country, they’d say yes - it has a seat at the UN, it issues passports, it sends and receives ambassadors to other countries, it has set territorial borders and a single head of state.

Doesn’t mean that anyone living in any of the individual nations shouldn’t want independence or feel like the UK as an institution isn’t a bad thing, obviously I wouldn’t argue the UK is a harmonious country, and obviously the worst kinds of people do refer to the UK and individual nations as and when it suits them (the whole is Andy Murray Scottish or British thing).

FWIW I think it’s funny that of the home nations, England is the least country like since it doesn’t have its own parliament / assembly.

2 Likes
#1601

Doesn’t really need one since its calling the shots at the end of the day anyway.
Obviously there’s a whole debate about NIs status as well.

#1602

Well I certainly agree with regards to NI.

#1603

Sure, that’s how it works now, but if the other nations make the move to independence it’s something England will have to address

#1604

Yep.
Scotland will go first if it gets another referendum anytime soonish.
Wales maaayyybbbeee a while thereafter.
Honestly can’t see NI standing on its own and the Assembly is a shit show, a New Ireland is a tough ask but once the Future Farages realise NI costs the UK more than the EU did it’ll be on the chopping block.
Either a Celtic League or a British Isles union where they each have autonomy and meet only to discuss and agree things that impact them all and exchange ideas etc to mutual benefit, with no one country holding dominance. That’s probably the way forward.

1 Like