UK? No

This dislike of England by the Welsh is quite beyond me. Is it for past misdeeds that were God knows how long ago and hardly the fault of any one alive today? If so, how pathetic is that. I personally have no axe to grind with anyone either from Wales, Scotland or North Korea come to that. This dislike of this nation or that nation is incomprehensible. If the Welsh dislike England and the English so much then why don't they do what Scotland is trying to achieve, ie: independence from the rest of the UK? It's easy enough with perseverance and I doubt they'd be missed!

I thought you said you did not dislike the Welsh, niggly.
That last sentence does not sound as if you like them.

Wales cannot seek independence niggly, far too poor so not easy as you state, but if we could I can say of England as you just did of Wales - wouldn't be missed

For the lovely English posters who may read this thread I would say the very same if the newsreader had said Wales/Scotland/ Ireland and the other nations . We are the UK , sadly the majority of English who have posted on this thread think differently

And niggly, try studying the history of the U.K. I was at the demonstrations when England told the villagers of Capel Celyn to either dig up their dead or accept the graves would be cemented over and then flooded , so there are people alive who witnessed the brutality of an English Parliament

If Southern Irelanders and Northern Irelanders can play together- and South Africans can play together- then I'd say there should be one team for the UK. Italy and FRance are also made up of very different cultures in the past, so is my country- and they don't have the chance to have different teams for different parts.

The majority of people in the UK are English. So an announcement, such as that in the OP, is intended to catch the attention of the majority of hearers.
It is natural that many of those in the majority see no problem with this, while some in the minority dislike it.

Exactly, FarNorth.

Yes, that was horrible ab, so was being bombed by Germany, that was pretty brutal! but it doesn't mean you hate Germans! Well you may, but I certainly don't and I was orphaned by them!! so there were lots of awful episodes in history for lots of people, but they don't automatically hate the citizens of a particular country! Hatred is a corrosive and what's done is done and you can't alter it, but you can put it behind you and work for a better future; you can't do that if you constantly fester hatred. I love England, am proud of this country and make no secret of it, and I certainly don't hate others for past wrongs towards it. I have absolutely no axe to grind with Wales,it's a beautiful country and I have both relatives and friends who live there, but if the Welsh really do hate the English that much, (I personally have never experienced this) then why would a country that feels like that be missed?!!

I didn't realise that Switzerland had a national football team, granjura. So who will you be supporting?
Not a soccer fan myself ( since the heydays of Newcastle in the '50s) We watch rugby more .

By Christian Gysin for the Daily Mail
I thought the Daily Mail was to be despised by Gransnetters for making up stories?

I find the relationship a bit strange as many of the family are totally anti English but ONLY when it comes to football and rugby! If you ask them about becoming independent that is the last thing they want! In fact I have yet to meet any person in South Wales who does. We actually voted against having the Assembly - just costs more money. I think that one MP could do the job of being in the Westminster parliament and also in the Assembly in Cardiff Bay - same could be with the Scottish Parliament - that would save a lot of money on salaries and the constituencies could be realigned if necessary to accommodate this. The MPs could do so many days in Westminster and so many in their home country - that way the English MPs could debate English only legislation which should be just left to them.
I too am in full agreement with having a UK football team -it would be a good team - the rugby teams have individual teams for the six nations but also the British Lions.

Except when the occasional article reinforces the views of those despisers, of course! (Goodness knows how they find them if they never read 'that trashy rag', though! )

Perhaps it's because it's the next best thing to a battle?!! Takes everyone back to the Welsh Princes driving out the English! Until along came Henry Tudor who finally joined the crowns together peacefully, and inevitably the politics! Which takes us to where we are now.

The was for Ana

It was one of the Tudors who came to the throne of England and Wales who decided to anglicize his name and caused a lot of angst to Welsh people nowadays.
"If I knew then what I know now" he must be thinking up in heaven .....

anniebach if you are concerned you could complain to the BBC - you may even get a generic reply as I did once when I wrote and complained about something or other.

Were you orphaned by the Germans, niggly? I thought your mother remarried.

I did Jalima. Not concerned just feel strongly that the four countries in the UK are given the same acknowledgement
. As for
The Tudors, never give it a thought though I accept it's the only knowledge niggly has of the history , and niggly I don't hate, never have,

Granjura, France and France are both four countries? I did know

No ab, I have a good knowledge of British history including the Tudors,studying it at length both at school to A'level (I passed) and since for pleasure. I think you'll find dj that the loss of of one or both parents does render you to orphan status regardless of a step parent. Wonderful though my stepfather was, legally he was not my parent,that person was dead.

The definition normally accepted, and on the internet, is that you have no living parents.

To be an orphan one has to have survived the death of both parents , my maternal grandmother died when my mother was two days old, she became an orphan age seven when her father died ,

Children were actually referred to as war orphans at the end of the war, which loosely meant that either both parents had been killed or more likely just one, their father. There were a lot of us as there were war widows, so it was no big deal. My stepfather would have to have adopted me to become my legal parent, which for personal reasons was decided against.

Ah yes Tricia- and they have several, well at least 2, players who play for English teams, Inler for Leicester, and another for Arsenal. I am not a footie fan- really- although the fairy story of the Foxes this year did grab my attention... My physiotherapist if off training with the Swiss team- as he is their official physio- so we often talked about Leicester during our rehab sessions recently. I'll support the English team and the Swiss one, oh and the French, and the Irish - ah well, may the best team win.

Yes, modern France is made up of very different and distinct regions, with different languages, cultures, and history- until quite recently. Even more so for Italy, which is a very recent concept.

Germany too!