A word of explanation is owed to foreign observers of the upcoming Olympics in London (July 27 to Aug. 12). During the last Commonwealth Games, some non-Britons were puzzled as to why the BBC often referred to medal winners as "proud Scots" or "proud Welsh" etc., while English winners were always "British."

The reason for this is the deep-seated resentment and anti-English prejudices of the "Celts" who run the BBC.

Why should this be so, given the fact that government subsidies to the BBC are overwhelmingly provided by English taxpayers? Indeed, there are immense amounts of public money shoveled into Scotland particularly (thanks also to the English taxpayer), even to the extent that some cancer treatments available in Scotland are denied to patients in England. To a certain extent some subsidies are justified, as Scotland has the worst childhood obesity rates in Europe, higher rates of cancer and heart disease than anywhere else in Britain, and higher crime rates. The over-subsidization of Scotland has, however, gone too far. Increasing numbers of people in England are looking forward to the day when the Scots declare independence, switch to the euro and take their anti-English obsessions elsewhere. The only question they have regarding this is, why should Scottish independence be a matter only for the Scots?

As for the BBC, they could easily change their way of commenting on sporting events if the government put pressure on them, but spineless Prime Minister David Cameron won't do it!

The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.

barry andrew ward