"The Sun is an unashamedly positive celebration of Englishness"

Ed Miliband has apologised for any offence caused by a picture released of him with a free copy of the Sun Newspaper. The picture was viewed as controversial because the Sun is #1 a right-leaning newspaper and #2 because many Labour supporters condemn the paper for its involvement in the Hillsborough disaster coverage. As a Labour member, I was slightly disgruntled to see Mr Miliband appearing with my most hated paper (yes, more than the Daily Mail) but I was more annoyed with the statement made by the Sun in response to the event.

The issue in question is the free copy of the Sun released to celebrate England's participation in Brazil's World Cup. The issue was described by the Sun as being:

"An unashamedly positive celebration of Englishness" 

which made me rock my head in a disapproving manner. As a Scottish/British who has lived in England for most of my life, I have a very balanced view (I like to think) on the England vs Scotland rivalry. This is the main reason I support 'Better Together' and condemn the SNP and why I really hate Thatcher and the England football team. To me, the patriotic England issue (which all three of the main parties' leaders were photographed with) was in bad taste considering we are less than 100 days away from the Scottish Referendum. 

Here is why:

When I said I hated the England football team, I didn't mean the likes of the 11 players who kick the ball around and disappoint everyone every four years by being utterly CRAP. These are the men my brother has looked up to since he was 6 years old and, for a time, I did too. What I mean is THE FANS. English "yob" football culture is one of the most exhausting things I have ever witnessed. The drunken bias and bitterness that seeps from football fans every 2 years (counting the Euro) is just not necessary. I was at Soccer Aid on Sunday and the hatred towards Edgar Davids after he fouled Johnny Wilkes was disgusting - it actually ruined the game for me. He was booed every time he touched the ball and, to be honest, that is not what a charity event for Unicef should be about. If it had happened the other way round, most certainly the England fans would have been silent. It isn't just me who is irritated by this, and no doubt many more find it more irritating than I do.

Considering the SNP are such an influence on the Scottish people and it is very plausible that Scotland will say "yes" to independence (which, as far as I know, is something the Government and EU does not want to happen), you would expect for English bias to be turned down a notch until September in the media. 

It is unfortunate that the World Cup and Scottish Referendum are months apart and I understand that the English do want to be patriotic - I know if Scotland were in the World Cup there would be ten times the party but Scotland leaving the U.K seems very likely to me and personally I think more needs to be done to turn people against it. If Scotland votes "no", which it is still probable that they will do, there will be a huge debate sparked about why Scotland is so unhappy within the United Kingdom and I believe that English bias in the media is one of the main problems.

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