In a week when Conservative-run Epping Council was sorting out its migrant hotel problem and fighting back against the Government on behalf of residents, the anti-British flag-policing of Labour-run councils says much about how they fail to understand the country.
The widespread flying of St George and Union flags across our towns and cities in England should be welcomed. They are a proud expression of who we are – our history, our freedoms and our shared identity.
After years of politicisation by those who seek to diminish England’s culture and Christian heritage, it is encouraging to see English flags flown proudly as symbols of unity, nationhood, and optimism.
So, it is shameful that some councils have scrambled to remove them at the first opportunity, even in the lead-up to VJ Day, while leaving banners of other nations and political causes untouched.
This is not about by-laws or policy. Councils will say they are enforcing local rules, but the point is they apply those rules selectively.
The same officials who tear down an English flag will turn a blind eye to Palestinian flags flown in defiance of local regulations. Their concern is not legality, it is politics.
The English flag has somehow become a source of discomfort for some people. Figures such as Labour MP Emily Thornberry have treated it with disdain. Others, including Keir Starmer, seem to treat it as little more than a football prop.
The only reason some Labour ministers are willing to sit by the flag is because Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, tells them to.
We Conservatives know there is nothing extreme about pride in our country, whatever our background. There is nothing racist about flying the flag of your nation.
The widespread flying of St George and Union flags across our towns and cities in England should be welcomed, writes Kemi Badenoch
The denigration of anything British in the name of ‘diversity’ is not progressive. It is divisive. It must stop, the Tory leader says
The same goes for flying local county flags, which Reform wanted to ban.
We should champion civic pride across the local and national identities that bind us together – they are not in competition.
The recent surge of flags and displays of national pride did not emerge out of thin air. It has come after years of double standards and cultural snobbery, where pride in Britain is too often framed as something suspect.
A few weeks ago, a school in Warwickshire held a heritage day, and a 12-year-old girl wore a Union flag dress to represent her family background. She was sent home.
Meanwhile, Birmingham Council, which has threatened to remove English flags, projected the colours of Pakistan and India on to its public library to mark their national independence days.
For years, councils have indulged in symbolic politics. They have lit buildings purple for George Floyd, whose death at the hands of American police sparked the Black Lives Matters riots. They have flown the ‘Progress’ Pride flag (an update to the original six-stripe flag) without authorisation, blurring the line between civic representation and political messaging.
The very councils that hesitated for months to address the widespread appearance of Palestinian flags now move with urgency to remove England’s.
Some even admit they needed help from the police when they did try to remove the flags of Palestine. That alone tells you where the real source of division lies – not with proud English men and women, but with those using power to push a sectarian agenda.
This is not about inclusivity. It is about ideology. The Saltire is proudly flown in Scotland. The Red Dragon is proudly flown in Wales. Yet, in England, we are told to keep our flag hidden away.
The message they are sending is clear: England and the English should not count.
The flag of St George predates the Union flag. It is a symbol that has stood for centuries. It should not be controversial to say we are proud of it.
The denigration of anything British in the name of ‘diversity’ is not progressive. It is divisive. It must stop.
The most damaging consequence is the message it sends. When councils take down the English flag, they tell generations of people, especially those from ethnic minorities, that this symbol is not for them.
It echoes the worst kind of identity politics, and gives ground to an angry ‘blood and soil’ nationalism that this country has always rejected. If you look on social media, where many young people spend their time, you’ll increasingly see comments along the lines of, ‘you can’t be brown and English’.
These dangerous ideas are taking hold again, among not patriots, but extremists – and there are extremists on both sides – who seek to police identity online.
They are turning a unifying symbol into a tool of exclusion. The English flag is for all of us who live in and love England.
My colleague Robert Jenrick was widely mocked for simply being photographed with the Union flag. When basic patriotism becomes a target for derision, you can see how far the narrative has been skewed
Suppressing the English flag does not stop division. It fuels it.
If more councils embraced our shared national identity instead of fearing it, we would not be in a position where flying our own flag is seen as an act of rebellion.
I will be working with Conservative councils across the country to ensure that never becomes the norm, just as I’m working with them to end the scourge of asylum hotels that are causing distress to communities.
It shouldn’t be a revolutionary act to fly our own flags in our own country. We should fly them high – and instil that love and pride in our country in every generation.
