Page 8 | How to actually preserve British culture and values?

rickyrickygrimes · 14/09/2025 10:30

cornflourblue · 14/09/2025 09:16

As a Scottish person living in Scotland, many, many of the examples above of "British" culture above just don't seem British to me, they are English. They don't resonate. Examples given of "UK Law" and "UK education" are just nonsense, such things don't exist.

I live in a community where a diversity of languages are spoken, be it Gaidhlig, Polish or Urdu. Where migrants and refugees are welcomed, where we look on in horror at, and protest about, what is happening in Palestine, Ukraine and elsewhere.

Scotland is a country people have long migrated from/to. From what I can see, we manage to preserve our Scottish culture whilst embracing new cultures too.

Sure, we've still got tartan and whisky and Gaelic and mountains and poetry and literature and castles and left-of-centre politicians and kilts and rugby etc etc and whatever else you class as 'Scottish culture'.

What my 80 yr old FIL, living in Scotland all his life, doesn't have is any Scottish neighbours any more. Where he lives - not the poshest part of town - the local population has steadily changed, and now virtually all his neighbours are Indian / Pakistani / Nigerian. The 'Scotland' that they produce in the way they dress, speak, cook, behave, present themselves, the one that he experiences every day, is not a Scotland that he recognises or feels comfortable in. His sense of place is being severely undermined, he feels isolated in his own country, his own place where he grew up. He can't easily have a joke or a chat with them as they either don't speak English, or they can't understand his accent so he gives up. He's not particularly cultured, but he's as Scottish as they come.

KatSlayMoon · 14/09/2025 10:30

Gingernessy · 14/09/2025 10:07

Sorry - had to respond to the poster who can walk on water - the last person I know of who did that is special to me and rather awesome but he believed in peace and forgiveness not vengeance.

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He was also from the Middle East. We know and respect him too.

EuclidianGeometryFan · 14/09/2025 10:30

curious79 · 13/09/2025 21:25

Culture can’t be maintained in any of these forced and false ways. And cultures invariably change with shifts in behaviour, how people live, and what they do.Running about and flying a flag and buying British food doesn’t make anyone British. It definitely supports local industry-which I’m very pro-so it should be done for that reason.

i’m never quite sure of which aspect of British culture people are trying to save. Is it the rampant class system and peoples accents and how they behave in relation to their class? Is it traditional food? That’s definitely dying a death. Is it things like Morris dancing which has its quirky little followers?

could you even define what you’re trying to preserve?

I was wondering when someone was going to mention class.
To me that is the most English thing about English culture. No other nation has a class system quite like ours. It baffles and puzzles "foreigners" no end.

We in fact have at least three separate cultures - working class culture is very, very different to middle class culture. The third is the minority (and possibly vanishing?) upper class culture.
Plus of course there are multiple other ethnic and religious cultures in England now, although these are still statistically very minor, and almost non-existent outside the major cities.

Amusing that so many of the descriptions in the first few pages were very specifically about middle class English culture.

NautilusLionfish · 14/09/2025 10:32

NeartoNewquay · 14/09/2025 10:20

@NautilusLionfish - I didn't say your post was hateful. As I said I am surprised that you would want to live somewhere that was responsible for all those things.

You also said that you would walk on water which I took to be a slight against a rather important figure in Christianity which has a long and important history in this country. I find that quite offensive but as a pp said when you are brought up as a Christian, you are taught about forgiveness and compassion.

We all know what happens if someone insults a similar figure in a different religion. The same rules do not seem to apply.

Edited

I had not meant the walking on water as an insult. It was more that people will do the unimaginable, the nsar impossible (by human standards) to survive, to get to what they think is a better life. Am sorry if that offended you.

I live here because my husband is from here and after years abroad, he wanted to be close to his ageing parents. Uk did all those things but remains a beautiful country (when weather allows) with rolling hills and ladybugs. And I would also love to live in at least a hundred other countries, many of which have checkered pasts - i have already lived in a few with horrible histories. And I can hold conflicting things in life too. Few things in life for me are ever black or white, yes or no. So yeah, sadly for you, am here. I might even be your neighbour. Or your doctor. Or your kid's prof. Or we have never and will never meet. Who knows. But am here

Gingernessy · 14/09/2025 10:35

KatSlayMoon · 14/09/2025 10:30

He was also from the Middle East. We know and respect him too.

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He was indeed 🙏

NeartoNewquay · 14/09/2025 10:45

@NautilusLionfish - I not sad that you are here at all. I am as far from a Reform Voter as could be but what struck me about your post was an anger and I was genuinely curious as to why you would live somewhere that you hold in such low estimation. As you have explained your circumstances it just shows that as a pp mentioned life for most of us is full of nuance, and personal principles and values that may follow or diverge from where we live.

There are many parts of British, or English culture that have been mentioned on this thread that I value, and some that I do not.

When I talked about your post being an advert for Reform I was clumsily alluding to the fact that when people get angry and apportion blame to the British for the many atrocities committed over centuries in our name, for many it doesn't give them cause to reflect but stokes the " well if they don't like it they can bugger off" rhetoric which is becoming so dangerous.

I think it is possible to understand that perceptions of British culture will vary enormously based on one's personal history and experiences. However so often on MN cultures from all over the world are celebrated but the British, or more particularly the English are reduced to binge drinking, fish and chips and racism. I would say that for the vast majority of us this is dismissive and somewhat offensive. This is what stokes Reforms fire, much to the alarm of much of the UK population.

Pleasedontdothat · 14/09/2025 10:45

The flag waving isn’t all about people feeling uncomfortable about the way their communities have changed. I live in an incredibly homogenous part of the northeast - the population is probably around 99% white British. There are a lot of flags but it’s almost entirely a signifier of how affluent an area is. Many of the former pit villages are wall to wall England flags but in the old market towns and pretty chocolate box villages there’s not a St George’s cross to be seen. The beflagged villages’ day to day life isn’t affected in any way by legal or illegal migration - however there is obviously a deep sense of grievance and that’s being directed against other communities in a deeply worrying way.

Namitynamename · 14/09/2025 10:46

rickyrickygrimes · 14/09/2025 07:23

I’m not sure if people on this thread are wilfully misunderstanding this but i think when the marchers refer to ‘protecting British culture and values’ they don’t mean it the way it is being understood on this thread. They aren’t talking about literature, poetry, landscapes, traditions, heritage. They aren’t talking about queuing or apologising for bumping into someone or being politely ironic.

I think what they mean is that their part of / experience of Britain no longer looks, sounds, smells or feels like ‘Britain’ to them. That it has changed in many ways as ‘non-British’ people have moved to live there and brought they own dress, food, language, customs, standards, lifestyles etc with them. And they don’t like this, they don’t feel comfortable with all this change, when the place they thought they knew changes and different feel like theirs anymore - and they were there first (and this becomes a major issue when public resources are stretched)!

Some people benefit from multiculturalism. My lefty sister loves to shop in ethnic food stores and eat authentic Chinese dumplings - then she returns to her big house in her middle-class, white, wealthy town. Some don’t see those benefits. My working class FIL has watched the population of his local area change to the extent that he’s the last white person living in his block: all his neighbours are Indian / Pakistani / Nigerian, and they make his home sound, look, smell and feel very different to the place he knew - ethnic food stores and dumplings don’t make up for what he has lost: a community that feels like his own.

The working class always get the shitty end of the stick in terms of change.
Enclosures impoverishing poorer farmers in the 17/18 century
The rapid industrialisation of the 18/19th century meant a huge shift from rural to urban living and in many ways a huge decline in quality of life. People weren't just choosing to move to cities. Often they were forced of the land through lost tenancies. Traditional jobs (weaving) were replaced by lower paid jobs managing machines.
People agitated for change to very exploitative working conditions in mines/factories. Trade unions pushed for greater safe standards and fair pay
The closure of the mines, rapid deindustrialization in the second half of the 20th century (earlier for textile mills) left a lot of men in particular without decent, working jobs that you could take pride in
Get on your bike- disrupted local communities

Now:
The 2008 financial crisis screwed everyone over. Plus the slow decline of services (austerity), closure of pubs, closure of third spaces. Football tickets cost a fortune etc. That HAS reduced quality of life in a real way. But also people, and this is as true for older people and working class people as for anyone else, go outside and socialise less. They spend more time inside on computers reading about the world than seeing it. Not only does this give a distorted view, but it means there are less people using shops/cafes on the high street so they close. There are less people like him out and about for your FiL to "see". Plus, and this likely isn't your fault it's the world now (and the economy), it sounds like the people "like him" including his own family moved away as much as other people moved in... He sounds lonely.
A practical solution which isn't about surface level posh stuff like cream teas would be to actually look at the route of feelings of lost community/alienation. People can campaign against EU/immigration/the ECHR but it won't actually solve the practical problems. People were "listened to" over Brexit but it didn't make them happier. There is always something else to leave for Farage etc because he doesn't want to fix the problems because his friends make a lot of money from the status quo.
On a micro level the solution is to spend more time with family members especially the older or more isolated ones. Community doesn't just happen. It's not like a vase you used to have and then immigrants stole it.

(Edited to substitute father for FiL).

Nagginthenag · 14/09/2025 10:50

ILoveWhales · 14/09/2025 09:20

Pretty much yes. If I moved abroad to another country and chose to make my life there. I would make sure I learned the language and integrated.

I wouldn't expect to impose my culture on them. Or expect them to change. That's not how it works when you choose to move somewhere.

Edited

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You've obviously never spent time in an 'ex-pat' community in Asia 😁

ThreePears · 14/09/2025 10:57

ILoveWhales · 14/09/2025 09:20

Pretty much yes. If I moved abroad to another country and chose to make my life there. I would make sure I learned the language and integrated.

I wouldn't expect to impose my culture on them. Or expect them to change. That's not how it works when you choose to move somewhere.

Edited

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That's exactly it. Everyone needs to accept that if you decide to live somewhere other than what you are used to, their customs and traditions are different, and if you can't accept that you need to make some attempt at integrating, you need to ask yourself what attracted you to the country in the first place.

'When in Rome...' and all that.

Pollypocket81 · 14/09/2025 10:59

Learn British (whichever country you prefer) folk songs and the history behind them.

ThreePears · 14/09/2025 11:02

Gingernessy · 13/09/2025 20:21

Some of the cultures and values held don't value women or the lgbt community very highly. What about those?

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Good question.

NautilusLionfish · 14/09/2025 11:09

NeartoNewquay · 14/09/2025 10:45

@NautilusLionfish - I not sad that you are here at all. I am as far from a Reform Voter as could be but what struck me about your post was an anger and I was genuinely curious as to why you would live somewhere that you hold in such low estimation. As you have explained your circumstances it just shows that as a pp mentioned life for most of us is full of nuance, and personal principles and values that may follow or diverge from where we live.

There are many parts of British, or English culture that have been mentioned on this thread that I value, and some that I do not.

When I talked about your post being an advert for Reform I was clumsily alluding to the fact that when people get angry and apportion blame to the British for the many atrocities committed over centuries in our name, for many it doesn't give them cause to reflect but stokes the " well if they don't like it they can bugger off" rhetoric which is becoming so dangerous.

I think it is possible to understand that perceptions of British culture will vary enormously based on one's personal history and experiences. However so often on MN cultures from all over the world are celebrated but the British, or more particularly the English are reduced to binge drinking, fish and chips and racism. I would say that for the vast majority of us this is dismissive and somewhat offensive. This is what stokes Reforms fire, much to the alarm of much of the UK population.

as could be but what struck me about your post was an anger
People have been disposes of land to create ea farms for colonialists. Villages moved. Hands cut off. So much damage which continues to this day in other ways and a refusal to truly acknowledgethese, just urging us to move on (our grandparents and in some cases parents lived through the peak of this are are still alive, we live it's aftermath) . What feelings do you think that should evoke in me? Gratitude that Brits, Belgians, Germans, French etc tortured and massacred us? Tell me how I should feel. Because I feel anger at the injustice and pride that we are fought and continue to fight. And hope that perhaps one day things will be better and we will have justice and equality. Tell me what to feel though.

When I talked about your post being an advert for Reform I was clumsily alluding to the fact that when people get angry and apportion blame to the British for the many atrocities committed over centuries in our name, for many it doesn't give them cause to reflect but stokes the " well if they don't like it they can bugger off" rhetoric which is becoming so dangerous.

So what? I should shut up and appease reform in case they say bugger off. No. Reform would want me to bugger off if they just saw my finger. Remember, they want all non-white people out of UK. And am not about to shut me down for the sake of reform

However so often on MN cultures from all over the world are celebrated but the British, or more particularly the English are reduced to binge drinking, fish and chips and racism. I would say that for the vast majority of us this is dismissive and somewhat offensive. This is what stokes Reforms fire, much to the alarm of much of the UK population.
I have never reduced Britain to those 4. It is, like any other country, a revolving kaleidoscope of its parts. Beautiful landscape, armies of volunteers, a cuppa for every problem, fantastic comedy (yes minister!), it's rich history which includes colonisation, racism, participating in the thriving and the abolition of slavery, curries adopted from South Asia, fish and chips, and much more. But even if all of us nonwwhite people marched the streets singing praises of all these, even if we adopted the various fantastic British accents and ate pie and mash and jellied eels every day, even if we gave our children English English names (many have tried) reform and their cronies would still want us out. Would still hate us. We would still be different and be blamed for everything. So no thanks. Am not doing that

Namitynamename · 14/09/2025 11:09

NeartoNewquay · 14/09/2025 10:45

@NautilusLionfish - I not sad that you are here at all. I am as far from a Reform Voter as could be but what struck me about your post was an anger and I was genuinely curious as to why you would live somewhere that you hold in such low estimation. As you have explained your circumstances it just shows that as a pp mentioned life for most of us is full of nuance, and personal principles and values that may follow or diverge from where we live.

There are many parts of British, or English culture that have been mentioned on this thread that I value, and some that I do not.

When I talked about your post being an advert for Reform I was clumsily alluding to the fact that when people get angry and apportion blame to the British for the many atrocities committed over centuries in our name, for many it doesn't give them cause to reflect but stokes the " well if they don't like it they can bugger off" rhetoric which is becoming so dangerous.

I think it is possible to understand that perceptions of British culture will vary enormously based on one's personal history and experiences. However so often on MN cultures from all over the world are celebrated but the British, or more particularly the English are reduced to binge drinking, fish and chips and racism. I would say that for the vast majority of us this is dismissive and somewhat offensive. This is what stokes Reforms fire, much to the alarm of much of the UK population.

I can remember going to university and one of the fresher dressing up themes was literally "chavs and slappers". It was early 2000s when the whole "laugh at Chavs" culture was at its height. It felt really awful actually because I already felt a bit like I didn't fit in. But, in retrospect they were just young quite silly students only echoing the whole "benefit bashing", antichav line being pushed by the grown adults in papers like the Daily Mail, media outlets, Channel four. They were the cultural bogey men of the time. Ironically the person who identified that that was a problem then was lefty Owen Jones. I dont agree with everything he thinks, but I do think people should read "Chavs". And it's those same papers etc that are pushing anti-i migrant rhetoric now and talking about how working class people have been too long disrespected. Yes by you Daily Mail!

I think it's possible to go the other way though and talk about "working class culture" as though it's completely alien/different. As though Guardian readers should be ashamed of their scones and of listening to music. People in council flats and rented accommodation also read books, go to libraries, like music, even eat scones sometimes. And I would bet actually that some of the people on yesterday's march come from "nice" backgrounds. There is a danger in redefining class boundaries as "doesn't like immigrants, therefore working class".

MoominMai · 14/09/2025 11:21

Namitynamename · 14/09/2025 02:58

Í agree with your very long post!

That sense of loss is a real British thing though. I really like Tolkien and he talked about reverse nostalgia where you know the thing you love now is going to go (in his case the beautiful village he loved doomed to be swallowed by the industrial sprawl of Birmingham). Or Blake worrying about the militarisation/industrialisation of Britain a century earlier. Although ironically, by the late twentieth century it was the deindustrialisation and decline of coal etc that sparked a sense of loss of a way of life.

And there is a very old English poem written in Anglo Saxon times "the tuin" where some guy is wondering around ancient Roman ruins imagining the people that used to live there and being a bit wistful.

And I don't think people are wrong to be unhappy about some changes - especially when they affect income/quality of life/dignity. Or just because change is unpleasant. But right now there's a lot of change (and hardship) and it's like first the EU then immigration are a lightening rod to explain that unsettling feeling. Which just adds to the sense of everything going to the dogs.

Blake's solution was that English people should embrace creativity over militarisation/chauvinism (I am somewhat abbreviating). So I guess that means I am helping by listening to music/going to gigs. Which I am more than happy to do.

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I love that additional insight you provided! Excellent reference to Blake, I believe you’re referencing ‘Jerusalem’.

Yes, I agree especially post Covid with the resulting hike in prices and worsening cost of living crisis, perhaps it has resulted in a more unsettled nation. And this is where I would expect our highly paid politicians to recognise, assess and step in with the appropriate reassurances and a forward look of how to address these concerns in perhaps a more direct and human way but their weakness is now being capitalised upon by a more extreme party which is playing to the fears of many as a means of becoming elected.

KatSlayMoon · 14/09/2025 11:38

ThreePears · 14/09/2025 11:02

Good question.

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Are the thousands of violent thugs causing havoc up and down the country bleating on about “British values” known for their respect of women and the LGBT community? I must have missed that amongst the screaming, intimidation and violence.

Shegotanology · 14/09/2025 12:34

@IstillloveKingThistle The Nazi Party offered simple solutions to complex problems, tapping into existing antisemitism and promoting the idea of a unified German community. They blamed Jews and communists for Germany's problems, using rallies, slogans, and scapegoating. They promised to create a powerful, prosperous, and orderly nation.
Wealthy landowners and businessmen supported the Nazis because of their violent opposition to communism.
Knowing all of this, will it guard us from history repeating itself?
We should always challenge hate and propaganda.

Thumbelina9 · 14/09/2025 13:34

Sometimes I feel I’m living somewhere else.

Our bank holidays are Christmas, Easter, new year etc - not Eid, Chinese new year etc. My colleagues who celebrate Eid etc have to book annual leave for this. The long summer holidays which used to reflect harvest time persist. As does Whitsun holidays which used to be the time mill workers etc got the week off for a holiday.

The official languages of the UK are English and Welsh, nothing else.

No one is banning tea, scones, fish and chips. The National trust survives, there are many castles to visit to learn about our history.

People have always been free to fly flags from their own properties or cars, happens quite often during the World Cup and for decades. Someone near me has a full size flag pole in their front garden - crack on, he can do what he likes with his money. I don’t agree with any kind of ad hoc flag on public properties like bridges, lampposts etc.

What am I missing? What do we need to take back? I must live in a bubble.

Namitynamename · 14/09/2025 13:42

rickyrickygrimes · 14/09/2025 10:30

Sure, we've still got tartan and whisky and Gaelic and mountains and poetry and literature and castles and left-of-centre politicians and kilts and rugby etc etc and whatever else you class as 'Scottish culture'.

What my 80 yr old FIL, living in Scotland all his life, doesn't have is any Scottish neighbours any more. Where he lives - not the poshest part of town - the local population has steadily changed, and now virtually all his neighbours are Indian / Pakistani / Nigerian. The 'Scotland' that they produce in the way they dress, speak, cook, behave, present themselves, the one that he experiences every day, is not a Scotland that he recognises or feels comfortable in. His sense of place is being severely undermined, he feels isolated in his own country, his own place where he grew up. He can't easily have a joke or a chat with them as they either don't speak English, or they can't understand his accent so he gives up. He's not particularly cultured, but he's as Scottish as they come.

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I wrote a really long post thats too long to read.
But, to be briefer, if your FiL surroundings have changed then that's presumably because his (white Scottish) neighbours sold their houses to the new wave of immigrants or because they were evicted by their landlords if they were renting. Either way they left. If his neighbours sold then it was because they could make a profit from the increase in house prices/move somewhere nicer. That has happened all over the UK and it isn't fair it creates a gap between home owners (particularly those who were able to buy their council houses at the right time) and others who are left behind But it isn't the fault of the people who bought the houses. Or even your posh sister.
Additionally your FiL has presumably seen his own family moved away (lured away by an Englishwoman apparently) and likely had friends die as well as leave. That's really sad. But it's not the fault of immigrants. All they did was buy or rent a house. If it wasn't them the houses would have been sold to someone else OR you would be lamenting the fact that your FiLs area was emptying out completely.

Namitynamename · 14/09/2025 13:45

Thumbelina9 · 14/09/2025 13:34

Sometimes I feel I’m living somewhere else.

Our bank holidays are Christmas, Easter, new year etc - not Eid, Chinese new year etc. My colleagues who celebrate Eid etc have to book annual leave for this. The long summer holidays which used to reflect harvest time persist. As does Whitsun holidays which used to be the time mill workers etc got the week off for a holiday.

The official languages of the UK are English and Welsh, nothing else.

No one is banning tea, scones, fish and chips. The National trust survives, there are many castles to visit to learn about our history.

People have always been free to fly flags from their own properties or cars, happens quite often during the World Cup and for decades. Someone near me has a full size flag pole in their front garden - crack on, he can do what he likes with his money. I don’t agree with any kind of ad hoc flag on public properties like bridges, lampposts etc.

What am I missing? What do we need to take back? I must live in a bubble.

You are not allowed to be happy Thumbelina. We must spend all our time decrying the fact that no-one has pride in being English while at the same time angrily attacking anyone who says what they like about being English for being deluded/posh/out of touch etc. it's the way of the internet.

2dogsandabudgie · 14/09/2025 13:49

CurlewKate · 13/09/2025 22:41

What if you don’t like some of those things? Or don’t live in a Miss Marple story?

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They are my views of what I think of when asked about English culture, you will have your own views of what English/British culture means to you.

CurlewKate · 14/09/2025 13:56

2dogsandabudgie · 14/09/2025 13:49

They are my views of what I think of when asked about English culture, you will have your own views of what English/British culture means to you.

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But in order to preserve English culture and initiate newcomers into there HAVE to be some universal rules. They can’t be individual….

PrizedPickledPopcorn · 14/09/2025 13:59

The point is this is Britain, and my bit at the moment is England. We travel to see, smell, hear and taste things that we don’t get at home. Every country has things that characterise it, including this one- and it’s worth keeping.

We already do some stuff really well- historical buildings and uniforms.

We could do with encouraging some other stuff by joining in with it more.

No one has to do all of it- vegetarians don’t need to eat roast meat on Sundays! If we try and do some things a bit more often, whatever our local culture is will be preserved a bit longer.

Some stuff that leaps to mind-
sheep dog trials and country shows.
roast beef and family dinner on Sundays.
church bell ringing.
local fairs and festivals and their associated traditions.
Pancake day
fish and chips
real ale
brass bands
feeding the birds

Our landscape is shaped by farming, so buy British food and support the landscape!

blahblah13706704 · 14/09/2025 14:03

constantcycle · 13/09/2025 19:24

Seeing all of the flag-flying and marches in the name of "preserving British culture" and "promoting British values," I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to actually do these things rather than stoking division and hatred?

I already support museums, visit the National Trust sites and national parks whenever I can, and buy from local businesses as much as possible. I love listening to British music and attending events with local artists. I do my best to buy local produce, and I love a good farm shop when I can afford them! I also take lessons in my local language, one of the several dying British languages people are doing their best to conserve. I'm thinking maybe I should find some volunteering opportunities too.

Is there anything more I could be doing, or that others may not have considered? I'd love to see this sudden surge in patriotism used for the good of British society and all of the diverse communities within it!

I think preserving British/English culture without the hate/racism is something English people really have to think deeply about and work out how to do. It seems to be so entwined with racism that it almost seems impossible for one to exist without the other.

Years ago I used to work late in an office and the security guy used to come round and chat with me sometimes. He seemed to be quite a sweet old guy. One day it was St George's Day and I was working late as usual and he came round and started chatting, he said he going that night to an old-fashioned music hall and then have a roast dinner to celebrate StGD. I said that was nice and then he said "yeah it's sad, it's that we're not allowed to celebrate StGD because of all the immigrants". I thought what?? First off, I am an immigrant (Asian) and I'm not stopping him!! I told him "But you ARE celebrating it, you're going to a music hall and having a lovely dinner" but he didn't really listen and started going on - "we're not allowed to have a parade etc unlike in Ireland"

I was so disappointed - as soon as he even mentioned St George I had a sinking feeling, I KNEW it was going to go there. If you can't have a fucking parade then blame the NAZIs and the thugs. They ruin it for you, they're the reason no one gives a F about St George's Day. British culture in English people's minds is intertwined with hating others it seems, and being a "victim"? It's pathetic tbh, I've been out with irish friends and exes on St Patricks and never had a problem. It was all fun. This is something the English should think about.

PrizedPickledPopcorn · 14/09/2025 14:32

Like you, @constantcycle , I want to celebrate and preserve the good in our country, without making anyone else feel uncomfortable.

I want to be free to be patriotic, without feeding racists or making anyone feel afraid. It would be nice if the time came again when we could fly our flags without it appearing aggressive.

I think the way to do that is probably seasonal- so celebrate St George’s day, jubilees and VE days, last night of the proms etc proudly waving the flag. Then take it down until the next special occasion.

I’m intending to use the Union flag more, on appropriate occasions, to reclaim it from the associations it currently has. I can’t help with the St George flag, as I’m Welsh. I’ll be waving my dragon.