Roast Beef and Three-Pinned Plugs

Roast beef and three-pinned plugs

Whoever came up with the word 'Brexit', or 'Grexit' for that matter, should have his or her keyboard confiscated, if not for life, at least for a very long time. Nonetheless it will not of escaped most of you that in Britain there was a referendum. The British public voted not to remain in the European Union.

While in the media most of the attention during the campagne was on the the economy and immigration, on the street many Brits are apparently still worried about losing their national identity.

The English have been worried about this since Britain joined the Common Market in 1973. The Scots, Welsh and Irish probably much longer, since they became part of the United Kingdom! The truth is, although many things have changed over the years most of the changes are the result of evolution or globalisation and have nothing to do with European legislation.

Anyway, judging by my recent visit to British Isles, the English are just about as English as they ever were.

Before crossing the Channel we had to change money, find an adapter plug,and mask our headlights with plastic stickers. Despite 42 years in Europe they still have their own currency and different power sockets. They still drive on the left and still measure distances in miles. A large portion of drivers still hog the centre lane on motorways.

They still drink tea with milk, in other countries that's only for small children and elderly ladies.

They still serve their beer flat and at room temperature.

They still have their pubs, although many have disappeared, most that have survived are fresher brighter, cleaner, offer more choice and serve good food, whilst retaining much of their traditional atmosphere.

Somehow they still manage to find cricket exciting

They won't walk on the grass if instructed not to and they stand in orderly lines when waiting for a bus.

They are still making the same old jokes about the French and still finding them funny.

Women in shops still call you 'love'.

They still eat fish and chips even if the 'chippies' are owned by Chinese,

They still love lawns, gardens, horses and puppies.

They still don't like to complain or 'make a fuss' .

They still like walks in the countryside, especially if there is a pub involved.

They still go on about beating the Germans, yes, in two world wars, but more importantly

in the 1966 football World Cup.

The British still laugh a lot, they still have a wonderful, ironic,sarcastic individual and self mocking humour. However, at the same time, they still secretly think Britain is best at everything and the British way of life the best there is.

A staggering 71% of the population, despite wall to wall cookery programmes on TV, still consider 'Sunday Lunch' to be the high point of the week... every week.

Sunday Lunch: Roast beef, roasted potatoes, vegetables and Yorkshire Pudding.

Yorkshire Pudding, by the way, is not a pudding. Made from batter, in less affluent times it would have been covered with gravy and served before the main meal to fill the stomach and thus save on more expensive ingredients. Now that meat and vegetables are plentiful and affordable the Yorkshire Pudding should be have become obsolete, I certainly wouldn't miss it , but instead it has become one of the most important parts of the Sunday culinary ritual.

In England many find it difficult to understand how inhabitants of other countries can live, or would even want to live, without Sunday Lunch.

Which brings me to a theory of mine: the English are not xenophobes, they do not, on the whole, fear or hate foreigners. They are simply confused by them and the whole concept of foreignness. What are foreigners for? Why would anybody want to be one? They are not sure if it is an affliction or a bad life-style choice. Is there a cure? Oh,and don't try to explain that the English are, in fact, foreigners when they are abroad – they will find the idea absurd!

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Yes, Brexit  arguments have mostly been about the economy, immigration and independence but deep down the real problem with Europe, as far as the English are concerned, is that it is full of people who don't drink milk in their tea, don't appreciate the wonders of cricket and have never experienced a Yorkshire Pudding!

bob powers June 2016