Broadcaster Mike Parry has admitted he has "given up" on celebrating St George's Day, as he claims those who do are "singled out" and branded a "freak" for being patriotic.Thousands are taking to the streets today in celebration of the English holiday, marking the patron saint.FULL STORY HERE.
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00:00What is it about England that makes us ashamed of who we are?
00:03Well, of course, Mr Stephen sounds as a pound, first thing this morning,
00:06when I started talking to him about it, put me straight and said,
00:09it's not being celebrated until next Monday.
00:11That's right.
00:11Because of the rules that you can't celebrate in Easter week,
00:14you can't celebrate Easter.
00:15That's the church, the Christian rules.
00:17The church kick it into the next week.
00:19Yeah, but nevertheless, the 23rd of April is St George's Day.
00:23Now, I'm the most patriotic man you'll come across.
00:27I'm very English.
00:28My father fought in the wall for six years from the age of 17.
00:32But I've given up trying to celebrate St George's Day
00:35because you were singled out as a bit of a freak.
00:38I'm sorry, but you are.
00:40You know, if I walked around today with a Union Jack waistcoat on
00:44or something like that, I would be regarded as odd or a saddo
00:48or an extremist, and so I don't, because I don't feel.
00:52I have to climb onto the rooftops and shout, I'm English, you know.
00:56But how did that happen?
00:56Well, it's happened since I was a kid.
00:59One of the first jobs I ever did.
01:01Oh, I've got a great idea, I said at my news editor on the Chester Chronicle.
01:04On this day, on my first year in journalism,
01:06I said, I'm going out into the streets of Chester
01:08and I'm going to ask people if they know what day it is.
01:10It was April the 23rd.
01:11Voxpuff.
01:12Thank you very much.
01:13Took a photographer with me.
01:14He took pictures of people.
01:15Not one single person out of six in Chester, you know, a great Roman city
01:19with great heritage, knew it was St. George's Day.
01:22It was also the Queen's birthday, wasn't it?
01:24And Shakespeare's birthday.
01:25Certainly Shakespeare's, we think.
01:27We think.
01:27I think Shakespeare was born and died on that day.
01:30He definitely died on that day.
01:31Yeah, yeah.
01:321616.
01:32Can I just calm you, put your mind at rest?
01:35Sure.
01:35Come to Ealing next Sunday and you will see the Greenfoot and District Scouts
01:39and the Ealing and Hanwell Scouts having a massive St. George's Day parade
01:43as we do every single year.
01:46Now, I think that's a good thing.
01:47I think that virtually every Scout group I know in this country
01:50will celebrate St. George's Day.
01:52And normally we have a couple of beavers dressed up as dragons
01:55running around the place.
01:56It's a really great occasion and it's a patriotic occasion.
01:59But Mike makes a very important point.
02:01We don't as a nation celebrate St. George's Day
02:02the way the Irish celebrate St. Patrick's.
02:04And even the Scots do.
02:06But, I mean, yesterday, I think, today,
02:09Keir Starmer actually had a big reception at Downing Street
02:13and he actually served them up pork pies.
02:15Which, you know, is this the British national dish?
02:18As long as they're melting Mowbray.
02:19Well, fish and chips are Jewish and Portuguese.
02:22I mean, round my way, we tend to eat sort of moussaka and pizza.
02:26Well, it's funny you should say that
02:27because we've been talking about food this morning.
02:29For 23 years in this country,
02:31the nation's favourite dish has been chicken tikka masala.
02:35Chicken masala.
02:35Yeah, I can believe it.
02:36It doesn't exist anywhere outside this country.
02:38Exactly.
02:38It doesn't exist anymore.
02:39But actually, for the first time last year,
02:42it was number two on the list
02:43and it was beaten by fish and chips,
02:46which is quite right to...
02:48Which is very surprising
02:49because fish and chips is now a very expensive dish.
02:52Very expensive, isn't it?
02:53Very expensive, isn't it?