Guy Fawkes Night

Martin Kettle on Guy Fawkes Day:

"The great thing about November 5 - and also, one suspects, the real reason why it is now being disparaged - is simple.
It is the one major surviving national celebration which is truly popular, in the sense of belonging to the people, and which also (an absolutely crucial factor in its supposed unfashionability) cannot be taken over by television. "

Mr. Kettle pooh-poohs the idea that the November 5 bonfires "fan the long-extinguished flames of anti-Catholic sentiment." Hmm. "Long-extinguished?" Tell that to the Irish.