A day of flying the right flags

By johnredwood on September 14, 2025

I was in London yesterday to go to theLast Night of the Proms. It was a great atmosphere, with people enjoying a good mixture of old and new music, classical and popular. The favourites were the traditional sea songs and the patriotic rendering of Land of Hope and Glory, Jerusalem and the National Anthem.

It is true we had to make our way through childish pickets trying to get us to take free EU flags in some colonising move to impose themselves on a very British tradition. It was best to ignore them , though some took their flags to throw away. The songs that were sung needed the Union flag and the flags of the four countries of the Union as backdrops. This was one of those days to just celebrate being British. That was why the show gets such a large international audience. The UK has much to be proud of in its past contribution to the world and in its rich musical and literary culture.

On our way there some people who had been on the lunchtime demonstration from Waterloo to Whitehall wanted to talk to me. One showed me photos of a large peaceful demonstration enjoying being in Central London and saying it with flags. Will the government listen?

They were saying they are proud of our country and want to be free to display our flag, just like the promenaders last night. They cannot understand why some local and national officials want to tear down our flags and why they seem ashamed of our country. The country which gave the world a model of freedom and Parliamentary government, an economy which gave the globe the prosperity of the industrial revolution, the culture that gave Shakespeare and the English language to the many should not be run down by its own progeny.

Those on the demonstration resent the way law abiding UK citizens are treated by our own government. Flying the flag says to them control our borders,put UK people and interests first, respect our traditions. Why does every decent peaceful protest have to face a counter protest? Why does government give priority to foreign law? Why do illegal migrants get better treatment than people born here who are down on their luck? Why is our money given away to foreign countries and not spent on us at home? Why is it thought a good idea to close down our oil,gas, petrol car manufacture, petrochemicals and so much else, only to import these products from abroad.

So listen and watch, government.The flag waving yesterday was from people who love our country and want you, the government, to treasure it too.Our flag is not the symbol of a narrow political group or party but the symbol of a great nation. Those who disliked the protest or want us to wave other flags should try to join us, not try to divide us.