The Nature of Being British
 

Re: The Nature of Being British
 

:):):)

Re: The Nature of Being British
 

It doesn't mention the Poles.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6716621.stm

It says something when they are translating Welsh to Polish!

Re: The Nature of Being British
 

LOL - Poles in Wrexham?? Mind you, most of my mates in London rely on Polish builders & plumbers to do up their houses at half the rates of anyone else.

Bear in mind also that this is the 2nd wave of poles to come to the UK - when I was a student in London, I lived in Hammersmith and used to go for cheap meals at the Polish Club, and sometimes to the White Eagle Club in Balham. It was founded in 1940, by escapee poles who signed up to the allied forces and flew for Squadron 303 out of RAF Northolt. Squadron 303 scored more kills in WW2 against the axis powers than any English squadron, and were well known for their bravery & heroism. Sadly, the squadron was disbanded by the Ministry of Defence in the late 40's due to mis-trust of Polish communism. There remains today in West London a massive community of Poles, many of whom have a proud history in the fight against facism.

(check Wikipedia or google "squadron 303" for verificiation)

Their food is beautiful too - or that might be all the Vodka I drank with them!!!

So you're right and Benji Zaphaniah made a boo-boo - the Poles form part of the make-up of Britain, too!!!!

Re: The Nature of Being British
 

so your not just a pretty face then!!! :)

Re: The Nature of Being British
 

I wonder will the "fresh Indians, Malaysians, Bosnians, Iraqis and Bangladeshis together with some Afghans, Spanish, Turkish, Kurdish, Japanese
And Palestinians" fight for Britain with the same vigour as the Poles did in WWII...especially if we go to war with one of those countries?

Re: The Nature of Being British
 

I think you'll find there are quite a few British Asians/Afro-carribeans etc serving in both the army & the police forces back home.

For my part, I'm proud to say I worked for the MOD & UK defence industry for over 10 years.

I'm not saying that there aren't issues & problems with having one of the most ethnically diverse nations in the world - but it seems to me that the Brits get multi-culturism right in a way that most other countries fail to!

Re: The Nature of Being British
 

That wasn't my question really - I know there are quite a few non-indiginous people serving Britain and doing a fantastic job. I was thinking in terms of a major conflict where tens of thousands would be drafted...I think we'd see a different picture then sadly as some groups are quite seperatist in the UK.

I don't believe in multiculturalism...some cultures are better than others and no culture should take precent over the British majority whilst in the UK anymore that I would expect my own culture and values to be given precednt over Emiratis while I am in Dubai .

Of course some people will see that as racist - which is funny given my ancestry has non-native elements as well as native hehe.

Norm

Re: The Nature of Being British
 

This might be seen to some as racist, but I think people from certain religious backgrounds are less likely to be compatible with UK society, as we've seen in recent years.

Re: The Nature of Being British
 

Norm, if there was a major conflict now I don't think the British would fight for Britain as hard as the Poles did in WWII.

In these days of 24 hour news channels it is very difficult to sustain the public will to fight a major conflict. Too many pictures coming from the front line.

Re: The Nature of Being British
 

not to mention that the Poles in WW2 were fighting an invader, and not fighting for corporate cronies of some far-off leader (as recent major conflicts have been and future ones are likely to be)