I am glad to be British because

It gets boringly repetitive and tedious rosequartz doesn't it? Wrecks any pleasure I was getting from GN

Just how many fascist thugs are you unfortunate enough to know durhamjen, in real life or on GN?

I'm unaware of having ever met one in my life , and the last thing I would consider was that, if the Union Jack or flag of St. George was flying?

And I thought this was going to be a lovely, calm sort of thread

Taken over by thuggish grannies loopylou, waving their Union flags and yelling fascist slogans about how glad they are to be British

Amazing! I thought it was a lovely thread to begin with.

(just being sarcastic, petra, I hope you realise)

Rosequartz. Yes it was a German singing it, and rather lovely he was too.

Said by rosequartz 19.33.03 this evening grumppa

My friend and I once got lost in our way to a Rochdale restaurant. She was driving and pulled into a desolate looking housing estate to ask for directions. She drew up outside the house with English flags in every window, and every stereotype of the right wing parties mentioned having a boozy barbecue - shaven heads, dogs on string, bare chests, the lot - and instructed me to wind the window down and get directions from them. With her in her best sari I was gobsmacked, convinced we'd get abuse and directed the wrong way. The people were so helpful and friendly and we were soon on our (right!) way. When I told my friend about my misgivings, she gave me a right old dressing down about prejudging people. And how right she was.

Or even a thuggish gransnetter ?
www.google.co.uk/search?q=the+angry+granny+in+the+cartoons&biw=1024&bih=677&tbm=isch&imgil=Hbx2u7T_6Lg2QM%253A%253BqoXtUhAwoWX3gM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.toonvectors.com%25252Fclip-art%25252Fangry-grandma%25252F1852&source=iu&pf=m&fir=Hbx2u7T_6Lg2QM%253A%252CqoXtUhAwoWX3gM%252C_&usg=__UesX4ifQ6sdBvQk4-ZHLi-ecyZo%3D&ved=0CCwQyjdqFQoTCP2ik7_MqcgCFUjTGgodwRoElA&ei=OoQRVv2dG8ima8G1kKAJ#imgrc=Hbx2u7T_6Lg2QM%3A&usg=__UesX4ifQ6sdBvQk4-ZHLi-ecyZo%3D

And I thought this was going to be a lovely, calm sort of thread

Well, you can all reclaim the flag and put it up in your gardens so I know who to avoid.
How does anyone know when they see a flag in a garden whether it belongs to a patriotic gransnetter or a fascist thug?

petra perhaps they should just arrest everyone as they leave the Albert Hall after the Proms .....

Didn't we have a lovely German singing it this year?

Who said that and where Ab? It would be helpful if you could cite your references in a thread as long as this one?

I agree with bags about reclaiming the flag. Who decides that it now belongs only to right-wing groups?

And with rose:

"... for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so" (Hamlet).

This became a negative thread when one poster spoke of 'the obvious few who obviously would be happier elsewhere '

Better not put me video up of me singing Land of Hope and Glory, then. I'm joking, I'm joking.

Popping back over to twitter for #wildflowerhour.

Agreed.

Why should anyone be anti-foreigner just because they display the Union flag of their country? I do think the problem is with the person who perceives the flag as something that it is not.

used thus

I understand nellie's comments too. She's right. But my attitude is that we need to claim the flag back for ordinary decent folk and not allow it to become a fascist symbol. We shouldn't assume it is used this either without further evidence.

Actually, it's quite common to see the union flag flying in Scotland. I've seen it far more often here than I ever did in England. Bet that surprises a few people. It did me initially.

I thought it was the England flag that had been hi-jacked anyway, not the Union Flag. Which is a pity, because no-one makes remarks about the Welsh, Scottish, Cornish flags.

I am not going to display the England flag now, not after Friday .....

Oh for goodness sake! Poor Petra - I'm sure she harbours none of the feelings some of you think displaying the Union Flag represents...

Petra I get concerned about the Union Flag being displayed because of the connexions of the fascist groups I have just described. Not the flag itself.

IMO those who display the Union Flag with what they clearly feel is anti foreigner intent are sneering at our flag as a symbol of the country.

X posts there Nellie and I understand your comments , other countries manage to fly their flags despite far right groups doing so

That's sad if it has been taken over as a symbol of the far-right.

We did get our national flag bunting out the other week when we had a party for the Queen's longest reign.
Is that allowed, or are we thought to be far-right? (I am sure some of my neighbours are far-left but they had bunting too!).

Oh dear, what a pity this thread, like so many others is heading for oblivion via grumpy polarised disagreements. I acknowledge the negative associations with the Union flag but for pity's sake not everything done in its name has been Bad. I'm mightily fed up with the view that it's ok to be ashamed of your country if its Britain, but ok to be proud of your heritage and traditions if you're from almost anywhere else (excluding the usa of course)