roomy said:
As usual Gotzoom has no idea what he is talking about.The flag of St George is flying all over the country and adorning millions of cars, streets have been decorated in the national colours, 10 Downing street flies the English flag on England match days in support of the English team.I wonder if he will ever get sick of looking like a complete fool.
England afraid to fly its own flag
Following threats by extremist Islamic group, several corporations, chain of pubs ban England flag
Modi Kreitman
Following warnings by extremist Islamic group al-Muhajiroun, in which the group said that the red cross in the England flag symbolizes the 'blood thirsty crusaders' and the occupation of Muslims, some of the largest companies in England have ordered their workers not to wave the flags.
The flag has recently appeared in England on everything from bikinis to cars, and sold in endless versions in stores.
But the Islamic protest forced some corporations, such as cable companies NTL, and even the Drivers and Vehicles Licensing Agency to ban the flag in every form due to fears from reactions of Muslims.
The Sun tabloid newspaper has in recent days launched a campaign to bring back the flag, and has published a blacklist of companies preventing their workers from expressing their patriotism at work.
The Sun said that a large pub network has banned drinkers from entering with symbols of the national team.
The hero of the day is a two year-old toddler, who was thrown out with his parents from Leicester, because he wore the England team's uniform
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3258613,00.html
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Town hall bans staff from flying the flag from vehicles
By Ed Chadwick
WORKERS at Bolton Council have been banned from flying the England flag.
Bosses have told them they cannot fly the flag of St George from council vehicles.
But their explanation that it is for health and safety reasons has been dismissed by staff a "political correctness gone mad".
continued...
With England having beaten Paraguay by one goal to nil on Saturday, and with World Cup fever upping a pace and England topping their group, council workers want to be allowed to fly the flag.
One said: "I think the health and safety reason is just an excuse. The council thinks the flag is racist and sends out the wrong message.
"But I think that is absolutely ridiculous what's wrong with showing a bit of national pride and getting behind the England team? Once again, it's political correctness gone mad."
The order to remove all flags attached to the outside of council vehicles was issued to staff on Friday.
A Bolton council spokesman said: "It's a simple and, we think, sensible safety issue. We don't want to spoil people's fun or enjoyment and we're all supporting England and want them to win.
"But there is a concern that flags are appearing in all shapes and sizes and that if they fly off a vehicle they could strike someone or hit the windscreen of a vehicle and distract the driver with possibly serious consequences. We have no problem if drivers want to put flags inside the council vehicles, as long as they don't obscure their vision.
"This only applies to council vehicles, not private cars.
"We are not being heavy handed. We're just applying some common sense. Staff appreciate it is a safety issue and are co-operating and are putting the flags inside of the council vehicles."
The battle for the right to fly the flag has long been controversial with some claiming it is harmless patriotism which others believe it is racist and right-wing.
Two years ago, staff at Safeway in Harwood were ordered to remove England flags and bunting after bosses said it was distracting them from their work.
Although Safeway - which has since been taken over by Morrison's, a firm which has no such ban and is getting behind the 2006 World Cup - ruled staff could not even wear England shirts and hats on match days, rival supermarkets were doing all they could to help fly the flag.
This year most supermarkets have been raking in the cash by selling all manner of England merchandise, including flags.
Also in 2004, during the European Championships, patriotic probation staff in Bolton supporting the England soccer team were told they could not display the St George's flag during working hours.
The probation service across Greater Manchester also banned employees from flying the English flag from their cars while visiting clients.
The action was taken by bosses after concerns were raised that the national emblem had been highjacked in the past by extreme political parties such as the British National Party.
Thousands of motorists, taxi drivers and homes across the borough have been flying the flag of St George for weeks in the lead-up to the World Cup which started last Friday.
http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/n..._staff_from_flying_the_flag_from_vehicles.php
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Many England fans are flying the flag on their cars for the World Cup
England fans flying the cross of St George on their cars could antagonise Welsh fans, according to the deputy chief constable of North Wales Police.
Clive Wolfendale said "incessant" flag-waving in Wales during the World Cup could lead to racism and violence.
His comments were made during a launch of the force's anti-violence campaign to coincide with the World Cup.
Clwyd West MP David Jones said flags were "innocuous" and that Mr Wolfendale was "completely misguided".
Mr Wolfendale, who is English, said there is a place for flag-waving during the World Cup.
But he believes that in the weeks before the tournament, the sight of the English flag being displayed on cars "frequently and overtly" is "unnecessary".
'In your face'
Mr Wolfendale said: "I'm an Englishman and I'll be supporting England during the World Cup campaign and if I was at the game or in and around the stadium there's a fair chance I might be waving the flag.
"But I think there comes a point when weeks before the tournament the incessant use of these symbols is a bit in your face and I just wish people would sometimes reflect on the impact that's having on others."
Mr Wolfendale said that in a football context Wales was "definitely another country" adding that he wished England fans "would reflect on that before they start festooning their vehicles in this way".
He said that displaying the flag was not illegal but that in Wales it was a "matter of courtesy and of decent behaviour" for England fans not to do so.
He added: "There's no doubt about it that this can be the precursor to behaviour which is much worse than flag waving - it's violence, it's racism, it's hooliganism of the very worse kind."
North Wales Police have launched a pub campaign entitled Show Violence the Red Card.
Posters carrying the slogan have also been printed in Polish and Portuguese - two countries also competing in the World Cup, and which have large communities in Wrexham.
'Completely misguided'
Mr Wolfendale's comments have been criticised by some MPs in north Wales.
Alyn and Deeside Mark Tami said the remarks were not helpful and risk creating a problem "that isn't actually there".
He said he does not believe that tension between English and Welsh fans exists in north Wales.
Clwyd West MP David Jones said Mr Wolfendale's comments were "laughable".
He added: "I think it's pretty innocuous (for fans) to display their flag from the little flagpoles on their cars if they want to do that.
"I can't believe that the people of Wales are so intolerant of a few English football fans that they would be incited to violence - I think he's completely barking up the wrong tree.
"Frankly, flying a little flag on your way to Colwyn Bay for the day is, I don't think, going to spark any violence - I think he's completely misguided."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/5058132.stm
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My St George cross isnÂ’t racistÂ’
PAUL Welsh and his house painted for the World Cup.PAUL Welsh and his house painted for the World Cup.
A PATRIOTIC father of two is refusing to whitewash his walls after the St George's cross he painted on his house was allegedly branded racist.
Paul Welsh, aged 25, decided to paint the red cross of the St George's flag on the front of his white house just over a week ago to show his and his family's support for England in the World Cup.
But last Friday he was visited by officials from Bowlee Park Housing which currently owns the property and, according to Mr Welsh, told him to paint over the cross because it was deemed racist.
Stunned Mr Welsh, who is currently in the process of buying the property with his pregnant girlfriend Carol McKay, said: "At first a warden came round and told me to paint over it and I refused. Then officers from Bowlee Park came to my house saying they would paint over it themselves but I refused to let them in my garden.
"They said it was racist to put up England flags.
"They called the police after I refused to let them into my garden, but the police said I had done nothing illegal."
Mr Welsh, who lives on Fairfield Road in Langley with his two young children and pregnant partner, Carol McKay, is now keeping a vigil at the property in case Bowlee Park officials return to paint over the controversial red lines.
He added: "I will paint over it and return the house to normal after the football is over. But until England are out of the cup or win it, the house is staying as it is."
A spokesman for Bowlee Park Housing Association said: "We have written to one of our tenants asking him to remove some painting at a Bowlee Park Housing property.
"The reason for this is the painting was done without permission and in this case the paint used is capable of soaking below the porous external finish and may become impossible to remove if left. Our tenancy agreements specify that a tenant must not cause deliberate damage to their property.
"Naturally, we all wish the England football team well and we would never prevent our tenants from showing their support within reasonable bounds."
http://www.middletonguardian.co.uk/news/s/214/214205_my_st_george_cross_isnt_racist.html
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UNLESS YOU’VE been stuck indoors all day — watching the World Cup, perhaps — you’ll have noticed that the flag of St George is flying all over the place. What you may not have realised is that this has little to do with patriotism. The flag wavers are, in fact, supporters of the BNP celebrating their racial pride.
The deputy Comment Editor of The Guardian, Joseph Harker, noticed the flags appearing last month. And guess what also happened last month: the BNP won 28 seats in the local elections. Could it be, he asked (before making clear that the answer is basically yes), that “flag-wavers are in fact supporters of this racist party, glorying in their ‘victory’ and celebrating their racial pride?” Mr Harker’s evidence is overwhelming. He looked at the drivers of the flag-waving vehicles and — blimey — “half of them are in white vans, and the rest are white, male, tattooed, pot-bellied 35 to 55-years-olds: exactly the type I’ve been seeing on TV for the past month complaining about ‘our houses going to the asylum-seekers’, or that ‘we’re losing control of our country’.”
*
It’s not just Mr Harker who has spotted this. The Independent’s Janet Street-Porter has noticed the same awful “white van men flying the cross of St George”. Good God, they even take pride in their country! And — ugh — they are overweight: “Chubby fellows with paunches.” (Lordy; she must mean me.) Ms Street-Porter has discovered something yet worse: they watch football and drink at the same time. “Why do we consider that slumping in front of a large screen holding a can of beer is an acceptable way to spend our time?”
One might ask why it is considered acceptable to spend time reading the witterings of two such dim-witted oafs. But their assertions do matter, because they typify the liberal LeftÂ’s attitude towards its fellow countrymen: scornful disdain. Mr Harker and Ms Street-PorterÂ’s contempt for som many of their countrymen, represent the true cancer in Britain: the self-ordained liberal elite of self-declared cultural and political wisdom. From its place above the lower orders,the liberal elite considers it its duty to bring the Untermenschen to heel.
We must meet those who would politicise flag-waving on their own ground. Resist, comrades, resist: fly the flag with pride.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2221289,00.html
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Do I need to keep posting examples?
I never said they weren't displaying the flag. I said many places are outlawing displaying it. Which several of my examples state.
I know it's being flown all over the country. I'm glad they are. I'm glad they are basically flipping off those who say it's racist and those who say they can't/shouldn't display it.
Sober up, get past your drunken bias and chill out.