Flying The Flag, For A United Britain

Heated debates about the place of the English flag in the public sphere have been dominating the headlines this summer. While there is benefit in discussing questions of national belonging, there is a risk of losing sight of other key challenges the nation is encountering. Faced with a risk of further divisions, government should seize this moment to set out a unifying direction and focus on addressing poverty, unemployment, housing inequalities and crime, which affect communities across the country.

I was abroad visiting family this summer when I first heard about English flags appearing on our streets and roundabouts, but I didn’t think much of it. Having grown up in Germany, where post-war debates about German guilt and the horrors of the Holocaust have arguably led to a more nuanced debate about patriotism than in many other European countries, I have personally never much cared about national flags. 

But then the reports about the flags persisted. Analysts claimed that the flags were a means of giving voice to communities that “felt left behind” (which, let’s be frank here, is often code for white working-class communities), expressing their protest at the political establishment. Politicians were quick to declare that public property needed to be respected, but that they sympathised with the patriotic gesture. Others called for those embracing a culturally, ethnically and religiously diverse UK to confidently reclaim the St George’s Cross, rather than leaving debates about the nation’s symbols and who belongs (and who does not) to the far right.  

The debate was heated – I could tell that much even from the distance provided by the 1000 kilometres that my holiday in continental Europe temporarily provided. Yet I could not help but wonder if the discussions served as an understandable, but ultimately dangerous, distraction. 

There certainly is a time and place to discuss different forms of patriotism, the various meanings a flag can have across diverse communities, and how people of different backgrounds relate to the nation and its symbols. However, while engaging in debates on these issues, there is a risk in getting derailed and distracted.

When I came back from abroad, I didn’t see a single flag in my majority white, working class neighbourhood in the Midlands. I have lived in this community for over ten years, and with time it has become home. I like to believe that my neighbours, my friends and the members of my community don’t fly any flags because they know that expressions of patriotism are not the crux of the problem. We have unemployment here, crime, rising living costs, housing issues, families that struggle to feed their children over the summer – but also strength, resilience, solidarity, humour, and people looking out for each other. 

This snapshot of my local community is not unique. The UK Poverty Report published by the government in April this year showed that over 20% of people live in poverty, with children particularly affected. The number of job vacancies is now at its lowest since 2015. Over half of us in the UK suffer from loneliness. These are pressing  and longstanding issues that affect our communities across the country.

While debates about a flag might be of relevance to some, I like to think that the majority of the people in our country are much more interested in seeing our government develop solutions to address the very tangible issues that we all face every day – rather than engage in lengthy debates about the symbols of the nation. 

This is reflected in recent research at Equi, where representative nation-wide polling showed that while the media often focus on negative headlines about clashes between communities, the majority of people in the UK are open-minded, welcoming and have no issues with people of different backgrounds to their own. 

This open-mindedness of the majority of Britons provides a window of opportunity for government to counter divisions and provide a unifying message about what we have in common, while working to address the big issues in this country. We need public policy that is guided by a clear and compelling vision – the vision of a socially cohesive, fair and just society that offer economic opportunity for all– paired with a strong focus on how we can bring about real, tangible change, and not get distracted by heated debates that are unlikely to improve anyone’s lives, but if not stopped may well divide us.

Dr Jennifer Philippa Eggert is the Director of Policy and Research at Equi.

The views expressed in Equi Comments pieces reflect the author’s perspective and do not necessarily represent the views of Equi. We provide this platform to encourage dialogue on broad themes related to our work, from diverse perspectives.