The annual St George’s Day controversy has started early this year, according to the Richmond and Twickenham Times.
ST GEORGE’S flag won’t be seen flying over the civic centre on his feast day this year – because councillors believe it’s too socially divisive.
Over the years Hounslow council has flown the Palestinian flag, the Co-operative flag on International Co-operators’ Day, the Union Flag on the Queen’s Jubilee and on Armistice Day and the Welsh Flag on the request of a local resident – but the English flag of St George is too controversial apparently.
Gareth an the Campaign for an English Parliament weblog makes a telling point about all this.
These people always say that it will offend religious or ethnic minorities, yet I have never, not once, heard any member of a minority actually voice that opinion.
It is of course the British establishment that fears expressions of English identity. Ethnic minorities are just an excuse.
Most Irish people, for example, can’t understand why the English don’t celebrate St George’s Day the way the Irish mark St Patrick’s Day.
As for the associations of the flag, a lot of Irish people would prefer the Cross of St George to the Union Flag with its phoney Cross of St Patrick.
People in Ireland may find this hard to believe, but during Euro 2000 a lot of the Irish in Britain flew the St George’s Flag alongside the Tricolour to demonstrate support for both the Irish and English teams.
Many of them would not have done that with the Union Flag.
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