Hugging the Union Jack just tells us that Labour is flagging
I RECENTLY wrote about having a cancer operation in a hospital that was under siege from Covid.
I ended by saying the experience reinforced a core belief that “it’s not the monarchy or the flag this country should be most proud of. It’s the NHS. Britain’s greatest asset and Labour’s proudest achievement”.
So I was depressed to read that Labour strategists believe hugging the flag is the surest way to win back lost voters. Or rather, rebranding itself by “use of the union flag” and “dressing smartly” to show what the party stands for.
I have no problem with the Union Jack. In fact, I loved it being used to promote the Sex Pistols’ God Save The Queen single. I just have a problem with flags being waved to prove patriotism.
Remember Donald Trump virtually humping the American flag on stage while encouraging his followers to rip apart the fabric of its democracy? Watch a Tory minister interviewed from home during this pandemic and you’ll see more Union Jacks behind them than at a Queen’s Jubilee street party. Yet they are overseeing what has been the worst Covid death rate in the world.
Loving your nation’s flag does not equate to wanting a healthier, happier, bettereducated country for all its citizens to live in. As UKIP and Britain First prove, it’s only the happiness of the people they believe should be living under the Union Jack they are interested in.
If Labour chooses to play this card it will be lazy, opportunistic and for some people, divisive. Worse, it will show they don’t have any ideas other than looking wholesome and unthreatening. Tories with the nasty glands removed.
To win back voters Keir Starmer needs to unveil a transformative vision. One that addresses the problems Britain will face after this economy-shattering pandemic. One that is courageous and will raise the hopes and living standards of
the majority of people. A vision that draws on the finest of Labour traditions. If they’re stuck they should listen to the new head of the Confederation of British Industry.
In his first keynote speech Tony Danker this week claimed Britain needs an economic strategy for the next decade to match the crusading ambition of Labour’s 1945 government.
“Where, in our darkest times, have we made real shifts for the better?” he asked. “Most notably, of course, in the aftermath of the Second World War, when reconstruction gave birth to the NHS and creation of the welfare state. I believe we must come together to forge a better decade. More 1945 than 2008.”
In other words, prolonged Tory austerity after the financial crash failed Britain, but Labour’s bold, high-spending solution to the worst economic crisis before that, worked. And this coming from the head of the CBI.
Labour united the country after its last darkest hour and it can do so again by unleashing the spirit of ’45 in a modern, ambitious, green-focused job-creating context that rebuilds the country’s infrastructure and public services.
Rather than hug the flag with a tie on, Starmer needs to create policies based on his party’s finest principles.
By the way, the NHS gave me the all-clear a few weeks ago. There is no flag big enough to contain the words that would express my gratitude to Labour’s proudest achievement.
If Labour play this card it will be seen as opportunistic and divisive