Proof that humour is more potent than almost anything, and that the fact he is considered a rare national treasure, is all the evidence that you need, if any were needed, that english culture appears to be an exotic antique left out on the street to rot, surrounded by a mainly foreign audience that perceives it as perverse, quaint and mildly humourous and in some way silly culture which is redundant in this age.

For someone like me, hes holding a tide of a verbal comfort blanket, against the bosom of those who love england, though perhaps over the years and the fame, he has worked out how to please the media and embed himself in his own mythology, and the media in turn how to use him for their own agenda, which is always a danger for anyone. And sadly his promotional love of england is not politically active enough to save it from itself. I think the media trot him out to convince us culture in isnt dissappearing down the pan. It seems to me that post the invention of independant television, the only home counties accent or should i say clear accent your allowed on the media, unless its a foreign face producing it, is in fact a person who has to use humour, so as to mask its acceptability.

Though I suppose to be accurate hegley’s accent is clear crossed with that kind of billy bragg, i know my working class roots union drawl, that seemed an essential accent to fake to make it anywhere in the media and locally funded arts / poverty poetry scene of their ascendance and still is usefull today. The “i’m a common man me, golden media touch” fakery.

I fact should do a whole article on accent and class fakery, name changing and its proven benefits to peoples careers.

verdict : Hegley : until otherwise appraised, always worth a read.

we are being sold a new agenda forget this natonalism thing we sold you believe internationalism now everyone pls ?! we are all european right ? independance for england wales and scotland will be done by those who are interested, only if it makes feeding the various smaller parts into the euro based super state idea of internationalism easier.