Last month the approach to London's Wembley Stadium was decked out in 60 foot long rainbow colours - not the traditional 'Pride flag', but the dystopian Alphabet flag aka the 'Progress Pride flag'. The flags were hung either side of the road as far as the eye could see, making sure that no-one could fail to realise it was 'Pride Month'.
No-one caused a fuss, the local council just got on with their leftist display and the masses tolerated it.
Cut to the sleepy village of Claxton in Norfolk, population just 298 and dare we say it's probably near enough 100 per cent British born and bred. The committee at the local village hall announced last year that they wanted to fly a mere 9 foot flag pole featuring the Union flag, albeit only on certain days such as public holidays. However, some locals reacted so strongly against the proposal that one would be forgiven for thinking that Claxton was actually a predominantly Catholic village in Northern Ireland.
However, this is not the case, and Brit after Brit complained about the idea that their own national flag could be flown in their village, which happens to be located in... Great Britain.
While the local parish council approved the flag pole, one parisioner argued that the committee should make do with bunting, because a flag on a pole presents 'a fine line between patriotism and nationalism'. A resident named Glynnis White demanded to know the committee's 'motivations' for flying such a flag, adding: "The flag is often used as a symbol against immigration and it would worry me if it was being used in the wrong way".
Good grief!
Another resident, John Garcia, complained: "People have been really riled up about this, I don't know if I've ever seen the Union Jack flown at a village hall before and it does have certain connotations." He never saw a Union flag flying outside a village hall? Has he never left Claxton in his entire life or did he just come in off a boat? Another complainant argued that the cost of the flag pole could be put to better use, such as installing central heating and/or a heat pump. A heat pump, you say? Perhaps we are getting to the bottom of the bourgeois demographic behind these complaints...
Another unnamed villager also complained to the local MP - Labour's newly elected Ben Goldsborough. However, Goldsborough decided to play Devil's advocate and sit on the fence: "The most important thing is making sure that all residents feel listened to" he said.
It is not clear how many of the individuals involved in the complaints were one and the same, but thankfully there were voices of sanity also. Nancy Harrison, who moved to the village in 2022, said: "Why should we be ashamed of our flag? If it puts people off from moving here then they shouldn't."
Bravo Nancy, although it's desperately sad that it had to be said at all.
So there we have it folks, in modern Britain we can deck our high streets out in far left Progress 'Pride' flags, but actually flying our own national flag presents a problem.
