Amidst all the politicking brouhaha about the union flag, it should be remembered that it was Gordon Brown, in his very first speech in parliament as Prime Minister in 2007, who decreed that the union flag should be flown all day, every day on public buildings. The following is an extract from a newspaper article at the time:"In the ancient history of 2007 Gordon Brown stood up in parliament to give his first speech as prime minister. His theme was “reinvigorating Britishness”, and he offered a series of policies to promote the idea.Prominent among them was the plan to end the 1924 edict that allowed the union jack only to be flown from public buildings on 18 designated days a year, including the Queen’s birthday and Remembrance Day. Instead, Brown announced, all public buildings were to be encouraged to fly the red, white and blue at all times, including schools, hospitals, prisons and police stations.“The union flag is one of the most recognisable symbols of the UK,” Brown’s proposals argued, “but while in other countries, such as France and the United States, the national flag is regarded as a source of pride, in recent years the union flag has all too often become the preserve of political extremists, a symbol of discord rather than harmony. It is critical that this symbol is not hijacked by those who seek to work against values of tolerance and respect.”The following day, as flags were hoisted over all government ministries, one unnamed Labour MP was widely quoted in the papers as saying: “I can see the array of flags from my window looking over Whitehall. It is an arresting sight and makes me proud to be British.”Brown toured the TV studios to argue that the flag symbolised British values of “liberty, a sense of responsibility, fairness”. He also proposed that all school children in England, Scotland and Wales should be required to pledge an oath of allegiance to Great Britain and her flag, in special ceremonies."
Jim Currie ● 2039d