Nathan

You cannot change your ethnicity. Someone with no English ethnicity will never become English. This is a fact of life; it is as neutral as any observation about the universe. People didn't think they needed permission to be Indian or Algerian, either, but when the power of the state that put them in those countries receded, they left very swiftly because the reality is that the nature of tribal belonging is unspoken, felt, and very real. If you have to say it, it probably isn't true, and that you are saying it is a confession. You can make statements like "I, a Pakistani woman, possess Englishness beyond the authority of the English people", but that won't make it true and you can't speak this into existence. No amount of legislation can make it so, and that this is the topic of conversation, as I said earlier, reveals the precariousness of your position. I'm not trying to be rude, and there are many ways by which you could modulate your claim in order to respect the English people so that you do not drive up these hackles, but you seem to want to deliberately provoke so that it takes on the aspect of a shit-test. Don't be surprised when this all backfires because of your lack of respect. The tribe decides if you belong or not, it isn't something you can demand or dictate.