"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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Shouldn't Louise Bours apologise too?

I am no fan of Joey Barton, he is a complete fool and he plays for QPR (which I'm still fuming about considering I was at Wembley last weekend supporting the Rams). Last night he featured on Question Time for the first time as a panellist along with Piers Morgan, Margaret Curran (Scottish Labour), David Willets (Conservatives) and Louise Bours (UKIP) to debate the new Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport.

Barton has been made to apologise for comments he made to newly elected MEP, Louise Bours on UKIP's success in the recent election. He said: 'If I'm somewhere and there was four really ugly girls, I'm thinking... well, she's not the worst - that's all you [UKIP] are.' which of course is not the best metaphor to be making to a female politician about her beloved party. Of course as the comment comes across as extremely sexist and was clearly offensive to Ms Bours, Barton should apologise for what he said but is Louise Bours getting away with her retaliation free of charge? To Barton's comment, Bours replied 'The ignorance here -it basically fulfils the mission that footballers' brains are in their feet.'. To me that is by far a more ignorant comment to be making as it plays on a horrible stereotype (UKIP's favourite thing) in order to demoralise and humiliate their rivals. 

My younger brother is 14, he started playing football at 6, was signed to a development academy at 7 and then was signed by his first professional academy at 10. I have grown up surrounded by the football industry and by the people in it and I can tell you now, footballers are not stupid. My brother has just finished his year 9 SATs and got top grades in all of them. He is way more academic than I was at my age and is set to do very well in his GCSEs, which he starts in September. He does all of this despite having to train 3 times a week and play a match on Sundays (one of his training sessions causes him to have to leave school at lunch and doesn't finish until 7pm). His grades are assessed by the academy and poor school performance does affect whether or not he is kept on in the academy the following year, fact. The academy run sessions where 'day-release' players (meaning they are out of school to train) have to do homework and my brother is expected to catch-up on the work he misses at school in his own time. Next year, he will be expected to miss a whole day of school and remain on top of his studies which he will do. Does that sound like someone who is stupid? The coaches, many of them being former academy players themselves, are mainly university educated or the equivalent and have a massive influence on the boy's attitude towards school. If my brother does not get a scholarship at 16 he will take A-Levels and will go to university. Footballers are not stupid. 

How come Barton is accused of ignorance yet Bours gross use of stereotypes is ignored?

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What did you think of Joey Barton's comments? Leave a comment!

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