Everyone needs to be given a strong sense of national identity

Ed: Q. What has this got to do with Christianity or Anglicanism? A. We are supposedly the 'national church', therefore we should have a take on 'nationalism'. Secondly, we live here and, like the Jews in Babylon, we should (arguably) seek the peace and prosperity of the city into which God has carried us into exile (Jer 29:7).

[...] In Britain, the concern over ethnic minority isolation is now largely to do with the fear of terrorism; in France, it is more about conventional crime and civil unrest. But the dilemma - and what politicians are beginning to understand as the source of it - is turning out to be remarkably similar.

The Left in France, just as in Britain, is discovering the importance of patriotism. Ségolène Royal has decreed that her political rallies should end with the playing of the French national anthem rather than the Marxist Internationale. She has even suggested, as Gordon Brown has here, that it would be a good idea if the flag were to be displayed more often and more proudly, as it is in the US. Read more