Newsnight: Green Party members debate use of St George's flag
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The two candidates standing to be the new leader of the Green Party both condemned the England flag last night as small minded and a symbol of colonialism. Ellie Chowns and Zach Polanski took it in terns tearing into the patriotic symbol after a fortnight of activists putting flags up on lamp posts across England.
Speaking on BBC Newsnight, Ms Chowns was asked if she likes to see the flag flying, and whether she would fly it on her house. She replied that with the exception of during international football tournaments, “it appears to be being used to symbolise a very closed idea of what England is about. The England, the Britain that I believe in is open, diverse, inclusive, that’s the complete contrast to the way the flag seems to be being used by some parts of the population."
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Ms Chowns said flying the England flag 'isn't British' (Image: BBC)
Ms Polanski wined: “I think if a flag is being used to intimidate people, that is a very difficult conversation.
“Our country’s got a very problematic history with empire and colonialism, and I think we need a massive national conversation about who is England, who does it represent and actually what does our future look like?
“We need to make sure that people who feel the most worried at the moment are centred in that conversation.”
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Asked if outside football tournaments whether they’d fly the England flag outside their houses, both said they would not.
Mr Polanski doubled down, insisting the England flag worries people concerned about its “problematic history”.
He bizarrely added: “I’m worried we’re importing fascism from America, and actually the irony of this is that people who claim to be patriots like Nigel Farage are actually just copying American politics.”
READ MORE: JD Vance blasts crazies objecting to English flag
READ MORE: Lefty MP calls for flags to be removed as risk 'breakdown of society'
READ MORE: 'It's not English' as men in St George flag masks paint on zebra crossing
Nigel Farage was attacked by Mr Polanski (Image: Getty)
Ms Chowns added that it is “not part of British culture to hang flags… for me I am worried about the way it’s been co-opted and weaponised.”
For the past fortnight the country has been gripped by a new civil disobedience protest taking place across England, which has seen hundreds of Union Jacks and St George’s crosses go up on lampposts.
Labour councils in Birmingham and Tower Hamlets sparked fury by swiftly moving to take them down, with critics pointing out they resisted calls to remove Palestinian flags put up in the same manner.
Thousands of pounds have since been donated to the cause, with Flag Force UK promising to replace any of the proud national symbols removed by left-wing councils.
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Last week all 12 Reform-run councils signed a pledge announcing they would not remove any flags put up in their patches.
Party leader Nigel Farage said: “Union flags and the Cross of St George should and will fly across the country. Reform UK will never shy away from celebrating our nation.”
The Green Party leadership election sees ballots close this Saturday, with the winner announced early next week.
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