Last updated 10:06, Wednesday, 23 April 2008

Happy St George’s Day. Few people are likely to have been greeted with those words on this, England’s national day.

After all, understatement is the English way – or one of many English ways. Is it possible to categorise a nation of 50 million people in a disparate mixture of races, faiths and personalities?

There are calls to make St George’s Day a national holiday. While an extra day off is unlikely to be opposed by many – other than the predictable chorus of business leaders – national pride and a sense of unity cannot be decreed from on high and filtered down to the masses.

National pride starts on the ground and works its way up.

It begins with individuals and families, extends to streets and communities and, hopefully, spreads throughout a nation.

Governments do have a role but it is not a question of declaring that its subjects shall henceforth feel a warm glow, or else.

Politicians should concentrate on doing what they are elected to do: provide efficient public services, aim for a society with both opportunities and safety nets, a place where the system is not skewed in favour of those with most money, a country which is fair and tolerant while tough on those who abuse its liberties.

A government which helps create these conditions will see national pride take care of itself.