My plea for Keir Starmer to develop a populist story for the Left appears so far to have fallen on deaf ears in LOTO – however, if the media hype is to be believed, we don’t need the Labour leader to re-energise social democracy. Step forward Gareth Southgate, folksy and likeable England Manager and – if the extraordinarily positive response to his open letter to the nation, “Dear England”, is to be taken at face value – a man who manages to seamlessly combine the sagacity of the Venerable Bede, the social nous of Orwell, and the bravery of St George himself. But did Southgate’s vision really reflect a genuinely coherent “progressive patriotism”?
Holding back the tide of hens and stags is a mug’s game
Many beautiful cities have tried and failed to tame the rowdy crowds.
