Dependence Day
On the 4th of July America celebrates its independence. The day we threw off the shackles on monarchism and became independent not just as a country, but as a nation of individually and independently free citizens. Now British Prime Minister Gordon Brown would like to have a corresponding holiday that celebrates what that country is about.
The choice of a far-left British think tank? July 5th, which is the day Britain passed its national health care system. Meaning that the British counterpart to America’s independence day would literally be a dependence day.
Gordon Brown should mark the 60th anniversary of the NHS this year by turning its birthday on July 5 into an extra annual bank holiday, a leading Labour thinktank will urge today.
The Fabian Society will say the prime minister has long dreamed of establishing a “British day” to celebrate nationhood. The most appropriate date would be on the anniversary of the health service - an institution which appeals equally to people in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland…
In 2006, before Brown became prime minister, he told a Fabian conference: “What is the British equivalent of the US fourth of July, or even the French 14th of July? ... What is our equivalent for a national celebration of who we are and what we stand for?” He said he had in mind giving the country a new public holiday.
As Mark Steyn notes: “Gotcha. The essence of contemporary British national identity is defined by waiting two years for a hip replacement.”
Apparently, some people think that’s something to be proud of. And some Americans think it’s something we should want for our country.
Graeme
likwidshoe
Bullwinkle
robert108
CatMow
keith_glory2
Move_Zig
watashiwa
Rodney Graves
