For me, my “Englishness” will be denied by people who have obvious reasons to deny it (“where are you real from?”) Like many from large cities, I consider myself first and foremost a Londoner- see New Yorkers, Parisians etc. And beyond that, a South Londoner. And no one can deny me that.

Except that taxi driver muttering “sarf of the river at this time of night?” Infinitely divisible identities and prejudices like in the fractal joke about who it’s acceptable to make jokes about