Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Keep Britain Tidy campaign - why not Keep 'England' Tidy?
I just noticed something. There is a Keep Scotland Beautiful, Keep Wales Tidy, and TIDY Northern Ireland but there isn't a separate (and related) website for England!
Keep Britain Tidy is launching England’s first ever Big Tidy Up
Why is it called Keep Britain Tidy, and not Keep England Tidy?
I just watched the Panorama special via BBC iPlayer about litter, "Notes on a Dirty Island", presented by Bill Bryson, the American author who lives in England, and who became president of Campaign to Protect Rural England last year:
Leading author Bill Bryson became CPRE’s President, in July 2007. His love of the English countryside is well known and celebrated in his books such as Notes from a Small Island. We believe his passion will help us win support in our campaigning.
I couldn't help but notice that England is seldom referred to in the Panorama special - instead it's almost always Britain, and this despite the fact that Bill Bryson is the president of Campaign to Protect Rural England!
And read this BBC News article about the Panorama special - England is never referred to once!
Litter is a serious problem in England as well as the rest of the UK, and I support the idea behind The Big Tidy Up (I don't hesitate to pick up litter that I find when out and about) but I can't help but resent the fact that the campaign is called, Keep Britain Tidy. Maybe I'm being a bit picky but there you are. What are your thoughts?
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You're not being picky at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm English and proud of it. Although having said that I'm ashamed that it's such a litter tip. xx
Thanks, flighty. I think it's very strange (and quite wrong) for England to be ignored - almost as if England doesn't exist! The campaign should definitely be called Keep England Tidy.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, it's very sad and shameful the way this country has become covered in litter.
so what? I don't understand your point. Bills campaign focuses on England but the Panorama - as Jeremy Vine said was his personal thoughts on the problem.
ReplyDeleteMy point is that the name of the campaign should not be Keep Britain Tidy but Keep England Tidy. The Big Tidy Up campaign launched by (Keep Britain Tidy)focuses on England - it even shows an outline of a map of England! - and states on its 'about' page that: "Litter is a big problem but we can all do something about it to help keep England clean and tidy." Notice, the word, England! England is not the same as Britain.
ReplyDeleteBritain includes Scotland, England and Wales but Scotland and Wales already have their own separate campaigns!
I support Bill Bryson in his quest but it is very noticeable that England is seldom referred to in the Panorama special - instead it's almost always Britain, and it's particularly noticeable because Bill Bryson is the president of Campaign to Protect Rural England!