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Jim Jam
Jim Jam
1 year ago

A good read, thanks.

Instead, he [Starmer] treats the Union Jack with reverence, a furled flag on either side of the quasi-presidential podium for a speech, or next to him behind a statesman’s desk as he talks frankly and seriously to the nation.

Which, hilariously, and completely on cue, was enough to send most Labour supporters into a frenzy of anger.

Though completely expected by the ardent Corbynite leftists – who, lets be honest, loathe Britain and any symbol of it so long as it resists total Socialist control – the exposure of a furled section of the national flag was also sufficient to seriously provoke many of the ‘grownups in the room’ aka the FBPE crowd, who, since Brexit had spent their every waking moment trying to convince anyone who would listen that the UK through its expressed desire to decline involvement with and control from the EU commision, had warped into a one of the world’s foremost xenophobic states: as far as they were/are concerned until we rejoin the EU, the national flag may as well be a swastika. Even those Labourites not taking such perspectives nevertheless seem approving of the charge of ‘flag shagging’ to anybody who dares to display the Union Jack of George Cross outside of sporting events.

For me, the Emily Thornberry reaction adds another layer and neatly sums things up for the modern Labour party: For the sight of the national flag as viewed through the eyes of these people is though tatooed onto the forearm of a working man; its not so much the flag itself that they loathe but the ‘type of’ individuals who dare to proudly display it, and of course, all the other working people they have long since abandonned – flag tatoos or not.

Last edited 1 year ago by Jim Jam
Katharine Eyre
Katharine Eyre
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Jam

If there was a Venn diagram depicting the people who think displays of the Union Jack in any form are abhorrent and people whose company is generally a soul destroying whinge-sodden waste of time, it would not be immediately apparent that the diagram was showing 2 circles.
I’m not a flag waver myself but what’s wrong with it? Really?

Jim Jam
Jim Jam
1 year ago
Reply to  Katharine Eyre

I think you’re on to something there!

And like you, I’m no flag waver, but the attitude of these people has caused me on many occasions to display it when otherwise I might not have bothered.

As to your question – there is of course absolutely nothing wrong with the gesture, though, depressingly, it does speak to the sucess of the whingers in that the excercise should need to be justified in some way.

Katharine Eyre
Katharine Eyre
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Jam

I’m definitely more a member of the “quivery-upper-lip-during-the-national-anthem” brigade but the constant carping before the Platinum Jubilee did make me want to seize any Union Jack in sight – be it mug, apron or doormat – and wave it joyfully!

Atticus Basilhoff
Atticus Basilhoff
1 year ago
Reply to  Katharine Eyre

One of the best comments I’ve read on the makeup of the left.

Jim Jam
Jim Jam
1 year ago

Thanks mate

Ian Stewart
Ian Stewart
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim Jam

Our neighbour has a flagpole in the side of his house, from which he generally flies the Union Jack but substitutes it with unit and regimental flags when it’s relevant for an anniversary etc.
I don’t fly the flag myself or wear political statements (even punk or heavy metal) as I prefer to mask my colours and political views, particularly since a Scottish upbringing across the divide allows people to assume your views based on just names and which school you attended, and I prefer to show these to people conversationally; but I love the fact he’s been flying these flags for the last 25 years.

Fred Paul
Fred Paul
1 year ago

I’m a Canadian who has lived 33 years in The United States (the “The” is part of the name, so it’s capitalized.) No one knows less about their true history than do the Americans. It was a war of independence. It was not a revolution. Did the British constitution (not coded) change? Did government change? But it does sound sexier. There were more than 13 colonies at the time. About 21… Quebec(Ontario), Nova Scotia (New Brunswick), Prince Edward Island (St. James Island), Newfoundland, Hudson’s Bay Charter, Ruperts Land, East and West Florida, Burmuda (part of North America). These remained loyal to Great Britain. Canada was attacked twice and pushed the Americans back, Battle of Quebec, 1774 and the War of 1812. In the War of 1812, the Americans raided a town on Lake Erie’s north shores to destroy food for the British Regulars and Canadian Fencibles. They also killed all the livestock and burnt the homes down, exposing the townspeople to starvation and death in the coming winter. To pull American troops away from Canada, the Governor General of Canada (Quebec/Ontario) “recommended” to the Burmuda commander that the time to attack the Americans had arrived. The plans had been in the works, and Washington and Baltimore were picked for raids. Washington was a complete success (hence the White House). Baltimore put the fear of God in the Americans. And there we have the American national anthem. Having had the stuffing knocked out of them, their flag was still there. It was a raid!!! And they claim to have won it! The land of the free and the brave my foot. They got what they deserved, and the troops pulled back from Canada. And today, after Trump, can you really trust them? So the next time you hear the Star Spangled Banner, think how they took advantage of Great Britain at war with Napolean to take Canada. The loss of life that took place. Canadians outnumbered and outgunned fighting for their way of life, liberty and government.
The British Empire died during WWII when Churchill passed power to Roosevelt. But, two dominions were well on their way to maturity. Australia along with New Zealand and Canada. Today, all three have matured into great nations. Canada is in third place on Freedom House’s list of free nations. Australia, New Zealand, and the UK are close by. The United States of America is somewhere in 50th place. In the world we live in now, it is clear that being just and honourable is not going to buy you anything when you have countries the likes of China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. We can’t rely on the United States with its fly-by-night democracy, and UE has a tough time deciding on a course of action in time to do anything about anything.
CANZUK is the only solution to shore up the free West against all that is unsettling. We must take responsibility. We can combine many resources to form a union. Four nations with the same head of state, government, laws and way of life. We can strengthen our countries economically, politically, and militarily thereby increasing our sphere of influence in the world. Canada and Australia/New Zealand are immigrant countries, so the criticism of racism is hogwash. Canadian culture is French, First Nations and English. We can share the freedom of movement among our countries, allowing citizens to fill the demand where needed. We have our own trade influence centers, Australia (Asia), Canada(USA), and the UK (Europe). Our military will have similar warships (Type 26) and fighter jets (F35). Our armies march to the same drum. Containerisation shipping has allowed China to sell toothpicks in New York City competitively. It would work for us.
It would be such a natural. The largest land mass. A large population. And we can act as sponsors for the rest of the Commonwealth to improve their standard of living.
You British brothers are spending too much time in the past with the likes of Morrissey. It’s time to think future. And the future is CANZUK (CANs-ook). https://www.canzukinternational.com/
The British empire did more good than harm in the past. But it’s the past. We now have to think and move into the future. And we have an astonishingly brave and unique opportunity no one else has and may never come again. All you have to do is make your voice heard.

Last edited 1 year ago by Fred Paul
Atticus Basilhoff
Atticus Basilhoff
1 year ago
Reply to  Fred Paul

What a great article and a great idea for the advancement for humanity. I know that when I think of global leaders who inspire the great unwashed masses of the world to strive for peace, prosperity and the advancement of society, old twinkle toes Trudeau certainly springs to mind, although most people outside of Canada couldn’t name him if their lives depended on it, but in all fairness, no one can name the Kiwi or Oz presidents either.
As for the military prowess you called out, the F26 is a British designed and built anti-sub platform, not exactly home grown Canadian nor a heavy lift on the open seas in a major shooting match. The F35 is US, that country you despise, designed and built. Your 42K man army is puny by any global standard and by itself couldn’t achieve much. Your vaunted navy is 12 frigates, 4 subs and a hand full of coastal defense and auxilieries. Having said that, I’m sure Xi and his PLA commanders are kept awake nights worrying about the possible onslaught of the overwhelming Canadian armed forces into the Western Pacific. Please alert us when that happens, no one will notice otherwise.
GADZUKS – a great name for a wet dream.

Linda Hutchinson
Linda Hutchinson
1 year ago
Reply to  Fred Paul

I just looked at your link to the CANZUK site, I think that you are over-egging the pudding as far as the defence side goes, but the rest is very interesting, I signed up for the news-letter and I’ll keep an eye on things.

mike kay
mike kay
1 year ago

A great article that puts all the 90s flag waving in perspective – and is rightly fair to Morrissey who has become a whipping boy for airing opinions that most of the masses agree with (though not the middle class media – hence his crucifixion).

polidori redux
polidori redux
1 year ago

Yeah well, Starmer, like Blair, has a bigger problem: Lift the lid from the cliché and there is nothing inside.

Fraser Bailey
Fraser Bailey
1 year ago
Reply to  polidori redux

I call him Ikea Starmer because he is so wooden. And, quite plainly, someone failed to follow the instructions properly when putting him together.

Steve Elliott
Steve Elliott
1 year ago
Reply to  Fraser Bailey

Yes, a self assembly labour leader, let’s hope the instructions are clear.

John Lawton
John Lawton
1 year ago
Reply to  Steve Elliott

and there aren’t any missing parts

CHARLES STANHOPE
CHARLES STANHOPE
1 year ago
Reply to  Fraser Bailey

Probably “made in China”.

R Wright
R Wright
1 year ago

I imagine most of the people mentioned in this essay regularly sing about keeping the red flag flying.

Doug Pingel
Doug Pingel
1 year ago
Reply to  R Wright

There are, of course, two alternative verses of the the socialist words.

tom j
tom j
1 year ago
Reply to  R Wright

Yes I thought he could have spent more time on the flags that the left do wave – less USSR these days, but they love the Palestine flag & the last few years the rainbow flag is now ubiquitous, across the British state, a reminder that you don’t need to have the PM to be in power.

G F
G F
1 year ago

Morrissey is the only significant artist who will stick his head above the parapet. There is no-one else who would write Bonfire of Teenagers, every other artist parrots the “Don’t look back in Anger” line on every important issue, without even bothering to try and understand those issues wile vilifying anyone who actually does. These self same people and many of their fans cannot comprehend what a flag actually symbolises unless it is not their own.

Doug Pingel
Doug Pingel
1 year ago

What’s all this about waving the Union Flag? That is the flag of crown and government. The proper flag for people of the union is the Red Ensign together perhaps with the individuals national flag. My boat wears the Red Ensign at the stern and a small “Welsh Dragon” at the port yardarm. If I wanted a Jack i suppose I could use the Cross of St David.

Liam Purcell
Liam Purcell
1 year ago

The majority of the labour party hate the working class as we did not revolt enough in the 60s and 70s In my opinion all the mainstream parties are a joke.

Liam Purcell
Liam Purcell
1 year ago

The majority of the labour party hate the working class as we did not revolt enough in the 60s and 70s In my opinion all the mainstream parties are a joke.

Adam McDermont
Adam McDermont
1 year ago

An interesting take on the uses and abuses of the flag. Today the most prominent bearers of the Union Flag are the genuinely patriotic on the one hand and globalists on the other. The latter see it as an instrument of false patriotism and a badge for ”brand Britain”, epitomised by our vapid Royal Family. I just cannot see people falling for Starmer’s adoption of it.
The Heritage Site | Adam McDermont | Substack

Last edited 1 year ago by Adam McDermont
Simon Melville
Simon Melville
1 year ago

Re: Morrissey – impossible to listen to Asian Rut, Bengali In Platforms and National Front Disco now and not think that his handling of these delicate issues was not just ironic as claimed at the time (see also fellow Mancunian Mark E Smith).

Richard Craven
Richard Craven
1 year ago
Reply to  Simon Melville

My best friend is a half-Bangladeshi PhD Philosopher and an absolutely massive Smiths fan.

mike kay
mike kay
1 year ago
Reply to  Simon Melville

The lyrics of Asian Rut and National Front Disco are clearly anti-racist. And Bengali is about the alienation of an immigrant. All three are very effective and interesting songs. The way these subjects are now off limits in music is sad.
Thankfully Morrissey refuses to be bullied and continues to say what he likes. He was one of the very few musicians to see through the covid scam and call it what it really is: “con-vid”.

Last edited 1 year ago by mike kay
Simon Melville
Simon Melville
1 year ago
Reply to  mike kay

I never said they weren’t interesting songs. Simply your claim that they are anti-racist or about alienation from an immigrant’s viewpoint is special pleading (my original point). If this were the case, why would such entirely blameless subjects be “off-limits” now?
It’s OK to recognise Morrissey’s ambivalence and still like the songs. It’s also important to recognise them for what they are.

mike kay
mike kay
1 year ago
Reply to  Simon Melville

I wouldn’t say it’s special pleading. In contemporary articles those songs are routinely described as racist simply because they mention ‘National Front’, ‘Asian’ and ‘Bengali’ in their titles. I don’t believe journalists nowadays have even listened to the lyrics. They’re simply following a “Morrissey is not one of us so destroy him” memo, which isn’t quite fair.
Asian Rut is about an Asian boy who plans to violently fight back after “English boys” kill his best friend. NF Disco is about a mother whose son has been “lost” to the far right. What is racist about these two songs? The lyrics are observations, but nobody has ever really sung about these subjects, so to sensitive middle class journos unless you’re the Special AKA blatantly singing “Free Nelson Mandela” they will always be problematic.
Back in the 80s they were less so because people had more common sense and tended not to trust their “betters”. Covid and its lockdowns, for example, could not have happened as a major thing without smart phones. We would have all carried on as normal and the virus would have passed like any flu virus. These days when the “experts” tell us something is racist we believe it without even investigating.
If an Asian band had written either of these songs they would be taken as anti racist anthems. But to anyone white in music these subjects are definitely off limits. You are not allowed to make observations on certain social topics unless you “fit the role”. For example, imagine a white band wrote a song about how white working class boys are being failed in education more than any other group. It’s a valid subject but the band would be vilified as far right racists.
As for Mark E Smith he’d probably be cancelled now for not playing the game.

Last edited 1 year ago by mike kay
Steve Murray
Steve Murray
1 year ago
Reply to  mike kay

These days when the “experts” tell us something is racist we believe it without even investigating.
Who’s “we”? Apart from ignorant progressives, I can’t think of anyone who actually believes that something is racist just because someone says so. It may seem that way due to the MSM being captured by progressives, but it certainly doesn’t reflect the way that the majority of people in the UK treat this issue. The majority are perfectly capable of making up their own minds, just as they do when voting in parliamentary elections and referenda.

mike kay
mike kay
1 year ago
Reply to  Steve Murray

“Ignorant progressives” lead the way by shouting the loudest, tweeting, writing scathing articles, and then too many unthinking people tend to believe them e.g. “Oh, Morrissey, I heard he’s some kind of racist now.”
Perhaps I was being too pessimistic saying “we”.
However, there’s a parallel with covid because most of the country believed every word uttered from “experts” and “professional liars” (politicians) – even going so far as to get jabbed with a largely untested vax – not once but up to three times – and donning paper masks that a virus could drive a bus through. For a glorified flu? A three year old could have seen through this power/control scam but most of the public fell for it – religiously.
That worries me. I too like to believe that most people can think for themselves, but the bullshit of the mainstream press is obviously very influential these days – or covid would have went the same way as bird flu. Healthy scepticism seems to be waning. So when the press slanders somebody like Morrissey, mud sticks.
Just for the record, I feel the middle-class media has it in for Morrissey because he really is not from their tribe. His rap sheet contains two particular crimes that these stroppy faux left-wingers have a big problem with: 1) He’s working class – and it has always shown, especially in the way he never says sorry. 2) He’s an autodidact who bypassed the indoctrination of university. These two things alone must kill them with jealousy.

James Kirk
James Kirk
1 year ago

I used to look back on the UJ as a symbol of loutish football drunks crossing Europe and putting us to shame. Or the Oswald Moseley-esque shaven headed BNP thugs. Why advertise yourself to an enemy? Flags are for boneheads.

Frank McCusker
Frank McCusker
1 year ago

I’ve never had any flags, apart from a local football team. Can’t see the point, and always felt that anyone who was into national flag waving was very insecure about their identity and usually a bit of a po-faced tool. You won’t see too many flag wavers out picking litter or doing community service.   

Angelique Todesco
Angelique Todesco
1 year ago
Reply to  Frank McCusker

Frank if you visit villages around England, it is generally the gentlefolk who are running the village fete, making sure the village hall has a good roof, arranging litter collection days, you name it who will have a flagpole in their gardens. The quiet folk who just get on with doing their bit to make their village that bit nicer.
You say there is no point to a flag, I beg to disagree. I look around and I love this land dearly, I love the green fields, the hedgerows, the pubs, the quaint villages, the history. The years I spent in other countries I yearned for the day I would be back in England and now that I am, I too am patriotic if patriotic means doing the best for our little corner of the world. For me the flag engenders patriotism, patriotism is wanting to do the best for the country where you live and making sure that when you leave this earth, you leave your corner as wonderful as it was when you arrived. Surely that is a good thing.