December 04, 2005
A Nation of Flag-Hags - the friday Project lays out its stall
The Friday Project sets out its stall on the subject of England and that whole Terry White issue. Go take a look. It’s not pretty.
There is much to object to, for instance the author asserts that the Cross of St. George is a wretched flag. He also asserts that it is not too offensive to say that wherever we see hooligan behaviour the flag of St. George is displayed (referring to White's assertion that football scenarios as simply an example of this truism but not a necessary qualifying characteristic).
Has the author completely missed the last few of years? Where has he been during the rise of English consciousness and the whole ‘taking back of the flag’ deal?
for better or for worse, rightly or wrongly, associations are made between the flag and racism.Keep up there at the back. I mean, how many people can take these ludicrous assertions seriously anymore? Where was the outpouring of utter distaste across the country when the flag was in such high profile during the footy and the rugby. All those cars, shops etc. While the Friday Project might cling to an insulting imagery the rest of us have moved on recognising the past for that is was; the misappropriation of England’s national flag by a minority of hooligans. Who in their right mind gazed upon the coverage of the rugby victory celebrations in Trafalgar Square and thought, man, what a bunch of racists or even I bet there are one or two racists on that lion?
The Friday Project, when presented with the hypothesis that The Labour Party are trying to wipe England off the UK map respond with the statement that it is not the most reasonable of assertions but I fear that they have misunderstood the meaning of the statement. Devolution has ended up asserting the nationhood of Wales and particularly of Scotland. We hear this assertion on the lips of a number of politicians when they refer to Scotland as being a nation in its own right and then refer to England as simply a collection of regions. New Labour’s very own Gordon Brown believes very much in the balkanisation of England revealed somewhat by his repeated use of the phraseology ”The nations and regions of Britain”. It is this wiping out of England as a nation in its own right on a par with Scotland that the initial statement is alluding to. Whereas this might sound unreasonable to the Friday Project it is most definitely not. Indeed, it is the crux of the whole unequal devolution process and is one of the biggest questions on the lips of a growing number of MPs and voters across Britain.
It’s of some interest that I note that the Labour Party were extremely quick to disassociate themselves from Mr. Whites statements knowing that they would be deeply unpopular and insulting to a great number of people. They recognised the fact that White’s statements were anything but reasonable.
When Gisela Stuart brought up the issue of the emerging English consciousness, which has a great deal to do with asymmetrical devolution and the notion of civic nationalism so well highlighted by Gareth’s extremely good English Civic Nationalism essay the Friday Project declares God, she's a bore. That’s fair enough I suppose and they would not be the first people to be bored by a politician. However, that does not mean that the issues raised are not important or, might I add, of great depth and interest to the rest of us.
I don’t really want to prescribe a particular characteristic to the whole editorial team of the Friday Project. It would be unfair and unreasonable and inaccurate. Why then, might I ask, does the author describe England as a A Nation of Flag-Hags?
Via Gareth.
Longrider comments as does L'Ombre de l'Olivier.
