I’ve watched the unfolding of flags for the last few weeks and the endless graffitiing of roundabouts and zebra crossings. Still, whilst I am not religious, the painting of a St George’s cross on a church meant a jump from just a mix of summer hedonism and national pride to full-on far-right extremist action, with attacks on a mosque and a Chinese restaurant now an emerging theme.
I was staying silent on this subject; after all, it’s quite difficult to argue about raising the flag in national pride, but then another nation was targeted with graffiti of English flags across the Welsh village of Cwmbran. As someone born in Wales, I do hope the Welsh are ‘eyes wide open’ to what English nationalism looks like and what it will be like when and if Reform MPs are elected to the Senedd next year.
Cross on a Lincoln church is taking it too far
But what really pushed me to speak out against these nationalist thugs was the vandalism of a grade II listed church in Lincoln with a very crudely painted St George’s cross spray-painted on it, as reported by the Local Democracy Service. In an interview with a Local Democracy reporter, Reverend Rachel Heskins said that she prided the church on being inclusive and that the graffiti “doesn’t represent us and what goes on inside the church.”
The St George’s Cross has become a symbol of nationalism which has become confused with patriotism – the two are very different.
She went to say that it’s a symbol that’s now “being used to intimidate; it’s not just about being proud about being English.” This is something that has gone up on a wall, I think with a much more excluding and angrier message behind it. She concluded: “It’s upsetting for a church which has always been inclusive to strangers and refugees.”
Fly-tipped rubbish and sheep do not escape the flags
Elsewhere, roundabouts, zebra crossings and just about anything from abandoned fridges and fly-tipped rubbish to sheep spray-painted (sheep are perhaps the most ironic since they are immigrants from Asia). Do these patriots really take pride in the really awful painting of such things? And when I say awful, I really do mean it. The lines are completely all over the place and I can only conclude the vandals were drunk when they did it. Here in Stratford upon Avon, we have had roadside flower planters painted. Is this how people really want to welcome visitors from all around the world? Personally, I have never felt more ashamed of our nation’s flag.
But what about the cost?
In Staffordshire, cabinet member for highways, Councillor Peter Mason, said:
“Although we appreciate people showing their patriotism, we cannot condone painting highways assets in this way,”
And the crux:
This presents a safety and insurance issue and will have to be removed at the expense of the taxpayer.
So here we have it; these patriots are literally burning our taxpayers’ money.
Why are they doing this?
Looking at a lot of posts on various social media platforms, the common theme seems to be that it is an act of patriotism, with others saying it was about raising awareness of the safety of women and children.
With the news of the church attack, I challenged one flag person online: “Can you explain to me how desecrating a church to ‘raise awareness of the safety of women and children’ is trying to get a bit of their national pride back”? Of course, I received no reply. These people are not able to reason, see when their actions are wrong or that their interest in protecting women and children is really a front for just being racist.
I have often researched peoples’ social media profiles and while you will find a lot of people shouting about cases involving Muslims, they almost never report any acts against children by white people. Take Nigel Farage, for example, always highlighting the grooming gangs yet I searched for any word from him on the recent jailing of six white men in Bolton. Silence, yet the reality is that the vast majority of grooming gangs are white, at 83%, from 2023 data.
Where does it end?
Who knows where this will all end, but like so many other times, those who fight back have done so with some fantastic humour, such as turning roundabouts into giant games of noughts and crosses.
Partly based on press releases by Local Democracy journalist Jamie Waller.
