St George and the dragon . . .

WHEN you hear that a council has voted to ban the flag of St George, you automatically assume that it’s Haringey or Lambeth, or one of the other loonier London boroughs.

But this time it’s Radstock, a sleepy town in Somerset, which only goes to prove how deeply the Guardianistas have insinuated themselves i nto every remote nook and cranny of British public life.

The council rejected a proposal to fly the flag on Armistice Day to honour Britain’s war dead, on the grounds that it would offend Muslims because of its links to the Crusades.

This ludicrous complaint came from a typical New Labour dragon — Councillor Eleanor Jackson, a university lecturer (of course) — who said she was also concerned that the flag was linked to the Far Right.

Well, pet, the best way to ‘ reclaim’ the flag is to fly it from every public building in the country.

As usual it’s the Left, not Muslims, taking offence. Rizwan Ahmed, of the Bristol Muslim Council, said: ‘ To say Muslims are offended is not correct. We understand that the flag is part of this country’s heritage and in fact many Muslims i dentify as British.’

Incidentally, how many Muslims do you think live in Radstock, out of a population of 5,620? Have a guess. Five hundred? Not even close. According to the last census, there’s a grand total of 16.