Screenshot of a post by The National with a picture of Keir Starmer smiling in front bunting of the English flag. The text reads: "NEW: Keir Starmer has said he hangs the English flag in his home and 'always sits front of a Union Jack'  He told the BBC: 'I'm very encouraging of flags. I think they're patriotic and a great symbol of our nation.'"
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 42 points 1 year ago (15 children)

Wtf.

It's sickening how the far right agenda has been so normalised that the government is pandering to them.

  • source
  • hideshow 15 child comments
  • [+] -13 points 1 year ago* (14 children)

    Since when was displaying our national flag "far right"? Ah yes, Hitler was as bad as some bloke flying the Union Flag.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 14 child comments
  • [–] 16 points 1 year ago (8 children)

    It's a flag usually assosciated with racist nutjobs. Doesnt have to be, granted, but the usual way of showing national pride and unity is to use the Union Jack.

    Replacing the Jack with the England flag telegraphs that unity is not the goal.

    Why do Wales and Scotland get to fly their flags then? Because these were countries that England oppressed and occupied. The use of their national flags do of course have racist undertones (usually aimed at the english), but it's a way of preserving their heritage under a foreign occupier and so we grant them this clemency.

    England flying their flag for the same reason does not hold the same merit, unless we're literally expressing our heritage that was taken away from us... by us. We were a worldwide occupying force for a long time. Maybe we should calm down on the pride, and instead fly the Jack that promotes more unity

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 8 child comments
  • Scotland’s not fucking oppressed and occupied. Their nobility bankrupted themselves investing in the doomed Darien project, so they formed the union with England and then went out again doing colonialism properly under the banner of the East India Company and British Empire. They just hate it now because the Empire money is gone and Westminster and London has all the power, which is just the same boat everyone else is in.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] -1 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    Because these were countries that England oppressed and occupied.

    LOL no. The act of Union between England and Scotland was very much consensual and the English didn't oppress the Scottish.

    Wales was not a country until recent times. It was only internationally defined as such in 2011. It was always a principality of England.

    It's a flag usually assosciated with racist nutjobs. Doesnt have to be, granted, but the usual way of showing national pride and unity is to use the Union Jack.

    Then take it back. Fly it at pride parades, palestine rallies, other protests. It's everyone's flag.

    Maybe we should calm down on the pride, and instead fly the Jack that promotes more unity

    I think people generally fly both. Although I'm not living in England. But when I visited England, I rarely saw St George's cross by itself. I don't think at all, except on a Church of England church (Anglican churches in the UK tend to fly their saints flags anyway, like the Church of Ireland typically flies St Patrick's Saltire or the Union Jack)

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    LOL no. The act of Union between England and Scotland was very much consensual and the English didn’t oppress the Scottish.

    The wars of scottish independence are pretty entrenched in cultural psyche, and Thatcher reignited tensions drastically in the 80s.

    Wales was not a country until recent times. It was only internationally defined as such in 2011. It was always a principality of England.

    They were not allowed to express their culture until the monarchy showed support, of course there's resentment

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [–] -1 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    The wars for Scottish independence were centuries before the act of union

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago* (3 children)

    As were any sense of the anglo-saxon heritage that english people claim, after the empire spread across the globe and imported its varied subjects

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] [S] 5 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Because the people doing this aren't trying to celebrate Englishness, they're trying to intimidate minorities they don't like. Why do you think this flag raising campaign has coincided with attacks on Muslims and Filipinos?

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    You're either an ignorant fool or trolling.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments