England’s Identity Crisis
Who is and who isn't English? As St George's flags fly on the eve of the World Cup, Nick Watt explores the political storm raging over identity, ethnicity and belonging.
England’s men's football team is once again preparing to shoulder the hopes of millions across the nation. A World Cup is traditionally a time to come together in pride and unity but this tournament takes place in a tense and divisive political moment, when the question of who is – and isn’t - English is being fiercely contested.
Should Englishness be linked to ancestry and ethnicity, to living in the country for generations, as some senior politicial figures are claiming? Is Englishness conditional? If so, on what? Should anyone living in England be able to claim national identity? Why is Englishness so hard to define?
Newsnight's Political Editor Nick Watt reports from the frontlines of the battle for Englishness and visits Castle Point in Essex, the area where the most people chose English as their national identity in the 2021 census.
He speaks to the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, Labour's Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and the writer and GB News presenter Matt Goodwin.
The interviews took place before Vickrum Digwa was jailed for the murder of Henry Nowak.
Producer: Leela Padmanabhan
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