Dipso fatso bingo asbo Tesco

[TheFaQQer]

How about "Please queue here" or "Your call is important to us"

Seems to sum up everything British.

[Moose423956]

What makes Britain great?

Is it? I don't think so any more.

[wendigo100]

The post of Lord Chancellor has been abolished and replaced by The Minister of Justice.

Somehow, having an elected politician as the head of the nation's judiciary worries me.

Still, they must know what they are doing, and I'm sure they won't allow politics to interfere with application of the law.

[DodgyAgent]

The post of Lord Chancellor has been abolished and replaced by The Minister of Justice.

How about these mottoes for him ?

• WAR IS PEACE
• FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
• IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

(1984 - George Orwell)

Reminds of that famous slogan:

"fighting for peace is like f***ing for virginity"

[DodgyAgent]

The post of Lord Chancellor has been abolished and replaced by The Minister of Justice.

It is all part of this ridiculous idea that "if it is said it is" philosophy. I have sales trainers giving it all this, and it is c**p.

[KathyWoolfe]

The Ministry for Justice?

BTW How the flip did Jack Straw get on the top table for the queen's speech, in his black tights? That used to be the Lord Chancellor's job, not an administrator from the other place!

The post of Lord Chancellor has been abolished and replaced by The Minister of Justice.

How about these mottoes for him ?

• WAR IS PEACE
• FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
• IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

(1984 - George Orwell)

[wendigo100]

That concept scares me, it really does.

The Ministry for Justice?

BTW How the flip did Jack Straw get on the top table for the queen's speech, in his black tights? That used to be the Lord Chancellor's job, not an administrator from the other place!

[Churchill]

“The Ministry of Justice is working on a statement of values. If proposals for a motto come from that, obviously we would look at them.”

That concept scares me, it really does.

[wendigo100]

Yes, what about "Shove Mottos Up Your Arse"?

It does have a certain ring to it...

[DodgyAgent]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2852658.ece

What makes Britain great?

I reckon it is our ability to ridicule our politicians, but some people have other ideas

It must have seemed such a simple wheeze to Gordon Brown: a motto to capture what makes Britain great. The idea ticks so many boxes on the Prime Minister’s to-do list that it proved irresistible to him.

A motto would be new, but could convey tradition. Choosing it means consulting people, the kind of participatory democracy that rebuilds trust in politics. And then there is the unstated post-devolution awkwardness of having a Scot as Prime Minister. The motto can highlight Britishness, what unites rather than what divides us. How clever! How British!

However, before the wording of Mr Brown’s motto has even been agreed, let alone embossed on letterheads and passports, the public seems to have rumbled him.

Hundreds of suggestions have been submitted by Times Online readers, in response to an invitation by Comment Central blog. There can, surely, be few citizen’s juries more representative of Middle Britain. And yet they make grim reading for the Prime Minister.

A few make game efforts to enter the spirit of Mr Brown’s earnest endeavour to capture the spirit of Britishness in a few short words. Some are predictable, others a little lame; they wouldn’t really do the trick for Mr Brown. Many more home straight in on the very question of Scotland’s place in the United Kingdom that Mr Brown would rather we all skated over. Others capture a sense of decline, with a sizeable number of contributors linking this with Labour’s decade in power.

Other undercurrents are a fixation with alcohol, nascent hostility to the French and the Americans, and a stubborn refusal to treat the quest for a motto with the seriousness that our Prime Minister clearly thinks it deserves. Several refer to cups of tea; a couple are even devoted to dentistry.

One contributor describes modern Britain thus: “Dipso, Fatso, Bingo, Asbo, Tesco.”

Some attempt to capture the combination of diffidence and stoicism of the British: “Britain, a terribly nice place”, “Less stuffy than we sound”, “Stubborn to the point of greatness” and “Turned out nice again”.

Some readers, a minority admittedly, take the idea seriously. “Britain: my country, my home”, might fit the bill for Mr Brown, at a stretch. “I respect who you are” could appeal to the man who, on becoming Prime Minister, quoted the motto of his old school, Kirkcaldy High: “I will try my utmost.”

There are the worthy, if cheesy: “Great people, great country, Great Britain”, “Hail Great Britain! Live, develop and flower”, “A country so brave and true”, “Fairness for all” and “For honour and for freedom”.

A touch of Victorian triumphalism is evident in some: “Pride, passion, history, monarchy, exploration” or “Courage, reason, humanity, democracy, monarchy”.

Then come the less comfortable, captured thus: “Promoting ahistorical unity myths since 1066.” Others are more pointed: “West Lothian was my undoing”, “Britain will always be England” or “Britain is dead. Long live England”.

Just as unwelcome to the Prime Minister are mottos with a broader political flavour: “Once Great: Britain”, “Once mighty empire, slightly used”, “Your nation, ruined by Labour”, and “Going down with Brown”.

“Americans who missed the boat,” another contribution hinting at a lack of national pride, is offset by “At least we’re not France”.

“My other car’s a Porche [sic]”, which is another of the suggestions, would also look inappropriate on Downing Street writing paper. Porsches are German, anyway.

A minority see the exercise solely as a search for an explanation for the nation’s lack of sporting success. This is especially unhelpful for Mr Brown, since in most sports England and Scotland compete as separate nations.

There were signs in Whitehall yesterday that Mr Brown may be going cool on the idea. Last month Michael Wills, a Constitutional Affairs Minister, told MPs that he welcomed suggestions for a national motto. But his department said yesterday: “The Ministry of Justice is working on a statement of values. If proposals for a motto come from that, obviously we would look at them.”

Returning to the drawing board would chime with several ideas from Times Online readers. One proposes: “Britain is great without a motto.”