Just change it back! Rishi says ‘don’t mess’ with flag
THE revolt over changes to the St George’s Cross on England’s new football kit grew yesterday when the Prime Minister warned: “Don’t mess” with our national flag.
Rishi Sunak joined the backlash against US sportswear firm Nike and the Football Association for switching our country’s traditional red cross to a multicoloured one.
The PM accused both of “toying” with the country’s heritage.
Meanwhile the Daily Express, which revealed the furore on Wednesday, has launched a Change. org petition calling on the FA and Nike to restore the cross.
We state that it is “more than just an emblem; it is sacrosanct. It represents our history, heritage and national identity”. Earlier this week we reported on Reform UK MP Lee Anderson describing the new flag as “virtue-signalling, namby-pamby, pearl-clutching woke nonsense”.
Nonsense
Since then opposition has snowballed from many quarters.
At the launch of the Conservatives’ local elections campaign, Mr Sunak criticised the implication by Nike that the England flag is not able to unite football fans. He said: “When it comes to our national flags, we shouldn’t mess with them because they’re a source of pride, identity, who we are, and they’re perfect as they are.”
He was echoed by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who said: “The flag is used by everybody. It is a unifier.
“It doesn’t need to be changed.We just need to be proud of it.” Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer also poured scorn on the design by saying: “Fans should always come first, and it’s clear that this is not what fans want.” Even Emily Thornberry, who resigned from Labour’s frontbench in 2014 amid accusations of snobbery towards the England flag, said: “Why can’t they just leave it alone? Imagine how cross the French would get if they started putting bits of purple on the tricolour.”
The Liberal Democrats told GB News the flag “should be changed back”, adding: “We are also worried that these shirts cost £125 in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.”
And comedian Jason Manford wrote on X: “A US company having a cheeky play with another country’s flag, let’s go back to Umbro I say, we won the World Cup in that kit.”
Nike, which has released images of England captain Harry Kane in the shirt, refused to back down on the design, saying: “The trim on the cuffs takes its cues from the training gear worn by England’s 1966 heroes, with a gradient of blues and reds topped with purple. The same colours also feature an interpretation of the flag of St George on the back of the collar.”