Hello there
I noticed this thread and particularly one comment from stevethesqueeze and though I might comment on it. Hopefully, you won't mind my thoughts on this issue too much and it is still on topic.

stevethesqueeze mentioned that:

" ... the welsh assembly actively encourages ..."

There is no equivalent body in England and maybe this is a factor. Simply put no one speaks for England. Perhaps no one is encouraged to because I wonder this government/elite doesn't want the English to feel English.

Please consider the following quotes:

Geisla Stuart, Birmingham MP
"It has only been in the last five years or so that I have heard people in my constituency telling me 'I am not British - I am English'. That worries me."
ref: http://thecep.org.uk/news/ViewItem.asp?Entry=755

Lord Falconer
"We need to have an arrangement whereby the regions, and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland, are better represented in the House of Lords" - Lord Falconer (Note the absence of a mention of England. We are now "the regions" instead)
ref: http://www.theenglandproject.net/wordpress/?page_id=196

John Prescott (attributed)
"There is no such nationality as English"

Charles Kennedy
'Scotland has a parliament. Wales an assembly. In England regionalism is growing as never before, calling into question the idea of England itself.'
ref: Scottish Liberal Democrats conference, 1999

Now consider the slogans for labour's last general election campaign

For Scotland it was "Proud of Scotland"
For Wales it was "Proud of Wales"
For England it was "Proud of Britain"

Or consider this quote from Lord Barnet about the lack of funding (via a formula know as the Barnett Formula) England receives.

'It (the Barnett Formula) was never meant to last this long but it has gone on and on and it has become increasingly unfair to ... England. I didn't create this formula to give Scotland an advantage over the rest of Britain when it comes to public funding ... It is a great embarrassment to have my name attached to so unfair a system.'
ref: http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=51&id=34822004
or http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=51&id=34822004

Or how about the membership of the British - Irish council (spot the missing country)
ref: http://www.britishirishcouncil.org/member/membermain.asp

I could go on and on about the discrimination and Anglophobia that I believe exists, but I've probably waffled and ranted a bit too much.

England lacks a national assembly of its own, and lacks funding. These may help to support its folk heritage in the way that the Scottish and Welsh national assemblies do. However, I suspect this is the case partly because there are some people in power who do not want the English to be English.

Brian