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About Gareth Young

Gareth Young (alias Toque) is a member of the Campaign for an English Parliament and convener of What England Means to Me and Anthem4England. He lives in Devon with his wife and daughter.

Articles by Gareth Young

The Anxieties of a British Nationalist by Ed Miliband (aged 42 and two quarters)

Gareth Young 11 June 2012

The Labour leader's attempt to open a conversation on Englishness should be welcomed. But it stops short of real engagement, while its cack-handed clumsiness tell us much about the party and Miliband as a leader.

St George's Day, a retrospective

Gareth Young 24 April 2012

In Britain, there is a country that is not officially celebrated: England. But it has a national day: St George's Day. This was yesterday, 23 April (also Shakespear's birthday by happy coincidence) and an active supporter of England gaining its own government sums up the mood.

Buyer Beware: David "snake oil" Cameron does not know his product

Gareth Young 18 February 2012
Cameron must limit Scotland's choices because financial autonomy for Scotland would arguably have a more profound affect on the status quo than Scottish Independence.

British Future: State of the Nation(s) 2012

Gareth Young 12 January 2012
For those interested in the constitutional future of the United Kingdom, the Hopes and Fears State of the Nation 2012 report by British Future provides interesting reading.

Euroscepticism: A very English disease?

Gareth Young 9 December 2011
With the Eurozone crises threatening to blow the Coalition Government out of the water, Gareth Young examines the implications for English nationalism and the Union dynamic between England and Scotland.

For England's Sake!

Gareth Young 12 October 2011
Why does England lack political representation? Why is English nationalism associated with intolerance? Why is 'England' an inconvenient word for politicians? The British establishment has long stifled these questions - now OurKingdom has launched a section to seek some answers.

The emotions of Britishness and being English, a response to David Mitchell

Gareth Young 16 May 2011
David Mitchell has said that the prospect of Scottish independence makes him worried about his British national identity. Gareth Young responds by asking Mitchell and other Brits who wish to save the Union to imagine a multi-national Britain that embraces hybridity instead of relying on Anglo-centric notions of Britishness

AV is dead, where now for electoral reform?

Gareth Young 8 May 2011
Arguing for electoral reform in isolation from a full bloodied constitutional settlement that includes the UK's national question was far too limited and asked to fail.

Let us speak of St George and Little England!

Gareth Young 22 April 2011
The 23rd of April is when Shakespeare died, allegedly was born, and is St George's day, the national day of England - were England to celebrate it. It is about time that it does and gives Britishness a healthy shaking

Baroness Warsi says England should learn from Scotland

Gareth Young 8 March 2011
Scotland has received praise of late for encouraging social inclusion, bringing about a strong sense of national identity. England is placed in contrast, as a country that wants everyone to 'be like one of us' and become English. What nonsense. Today's England has failed to foster any sense of civic nationalism, whether inclusive or not.

England is the country: How language hinders our understanding of devolution and English identity

Gareth Young 10 January 2011
When our media and politicians use the term 'the country', they often mean 'England', rather than Great Britain. The subsequent confusion is used to promote the idea of the UK as united under the control of Westminster, while muffling the debate around England as a distinct national, political and economic community.

Students of England, the NUS has failed you

Gareth Young 16 December 2010
After the passing of the tuition fee legislation through the Lords, many students in England feel abandoned and voiceless. They should remember the initial betrayal of their interests in 2004, when the undemocratic decision to impose tuition fees on English students went unchallenged by the NUS.

This week's editor

Heather McRobie


Niki Seth-Smith is a freelance journalist and co-editor of OurKingdom.

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