Ed Miliband says you can be both Welsh and British

A Scottish friend once told me that the day England won football's World Cup was one of the worst of his life.

So it's a fair bet he won't be waving an England flag as Roy Hodgson's men begin their European Championship campaign.

If you are an undecided Scot, or hail from a part of the UK other than England, there is advice available from the Labour leader (scroll down if you can't wait).

Ed Miliband devoted a speech this morning to "defending the Union in England". You can read it in full here.

His key argument was that the debate over Scotland's future shouldn't be confined to Scotland and that part of the strength of the UK comes from the ability of its people to embrace multiple identities.

A Welshman living in London could regard himself as both Welsh and British. He accused nationalists of forcing people to make "a false choice" between being British and Welsh, or British and Scottish. He suggested some Scots would be supporting England in Poland and the Ukraine.

He admitted that the Labour Party had been too reluctant to talk about England. He said there was a resentment that politics was too centralised in London but he said the English identity shouldn't be reflected in an English parliament or assembly.

His speech ignored the West Lothian Question - why MPs from Wales and Scotland can votes on issues such as schools and hospitals in England but English MPs have little say over those issues west of Offa's Dyke or north of Hadrian's Wall.

Some politicians believe it is a question to which there is no answer. Montgomeryshire Conservative MP Glyn Davies, who is a parliamentary aide to the secretary of state for Wales suggested last year that "we should think long and hard about whether the West Lothian Question should be asked".

That was before the UK government set up a commission to look at the question - and today the Conservatives highlighted Ed Miliband's desision to ignore the issue.

Tory MP Priti Patel said: "Ed Miliband says he wants to stand up for England, but Labour are the only party to have said absolutely nothing about how English laws should be made.

"Every step of the way, Labour have opposed measures to make sure MPs from other parts of the UK don't hold sway over England. This is yet another example of Ed Miliband's weak leadership and breathtaking hypocrisy."

Plaid Cymru's parliamentary leader, Elfyn Llwyd, said his party had called for a partnership of equals: "Plaid have always maintained that the creation of an English parliament would help answer the West Lothian Question and address the UK's democratic deficit, but it seems the unionist parties would rather bury their heads in the sand than come up with constructive proposals."

But back to Ed Miliband and his advice for football fans ahead of Euro 2012:

"Should Scots support England? Yes, is the answer. I think England needs as many supporters as it can get in these European Championships.

"So I would obviously urge them to do so, but I don't think it makes them un-British if they don't support England."

If anyone sees Alex Salmond (or indeed Carwyn Jones) waving a flag of St George, do get in touch.