'England borrowed its patron saint from Middle East,' says Black Country poet

Ian Henery, who is also a solicitor, took to the stage at New Arts Exchange, Nottingham, on Friday (26) as part of a group called Poets Against Racism.

Mr Henery, from Ian Henery Solicitors based in Willenhall, performed specially commissioned work on the birth Shakespeare, St George's Day and the death of Rupert Brooke.

He said: "The starting point to define 'England' whatever that is, is Shakespeare's 'King Richard II, act two, scene one.

"Where is this happy breed of men dwelling on this green sceptered isle, this other Eden?

"How do you come up with a version of England that is common to warehouse operatives in Walsall, binmen from Birmingham, soccer stars from Four Oaks in Sutton Coldfield or window cleaners from Wolverhampton?

"What is there left to bind us together except the cliches - reality TV shows and talk about the weather?"

The group he performed with, Poets Against Racism, encourages new performers to join more established poets in creating a safe place to explore identity, belonging and how to celebrate diversity in a post Brexit world.

Poets Against Racism are a performance collective bringing Midlands-based poets, spoken word artists and rappers together to challenge the rise in racism and bigotry in our society.

Ian continued: "We are a nation of immigrants. We are all the children of immigrants.

"Half of my family are Chinese who originally came from Malaysia and China.

"Half of my brother's family are Muslim who originally came from Pakistan. Even our patron saint, St George, was not native to England.

"We have revered him since the 14th century but St George owes his fame less to his contribution to English history and more to the medieval equivalent of spin doctoring.

"He never visited England, there was no dragon and he was not born in Coventry but Palestine, now modern day Syria, in Lydda in 303 AD."