Hi there folks,

This is getting interesting - sorry I missed the Culture Show, but from what's been quoted above, it sounds like Mr Bragg was right on the money there.

When Glasgow launches a festival called "Celtic Connections", flocks of media experts descend on it murmuring... "Marvellous talent... indigenous culture ... deep spiritual roots ... authentic national identity ... etc etc"

Whereas if someone in, for example, Winchester (King Alfred's old capital) were to launch a festival called "Anglo-Saxon Connections", then I bet those same experts would all be shouting "Fascism!" .

Now I admit that Prince Harry's recent own goal hasn't done us any favours in the PR department. And more seriously, I freely confess that England does have an Imperial past to live down - but then, so does almost every other nation. For example:

In the mid 12th century, while Stephen and Matilda were fighting for the throne of England, David I of Scotland popped across the Tweed and nicked Northumberland and Durham. He held on to them for several years, and if his successors had been a bit more assertive, then the Anglo-Scots frontier might still be the Tees ... or perhaps the Humber ... or even the Thames?

For all that that, I'm very happy to see the Scots promoting their own Celtic culture. And if making a commercial success out of it requires them to put on a festival dominated by Alt-Country singer-songwriters, some of whom have Scottish accents, then good luck to them. After all, getting bums on seats is what show business is about.

But by the same token, the English should also be allowed to celebrate their culture -including Mr Bragg's excellent contributions to it - without being called nasty names.

Wassail!