Save the Union. . . with TV cricket and no EU flag on cars!
PUT Test cricket back on terrestrial TV, make Remembrance Day a bank holiday and bring in red, white and blue number plates to save the Union, Boris Johnson’s crucial Ulster ally urges today.
Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster, whose ten MPs give the Conservatives a wafer-thin grip on the Commons, has thrown her support behind a patriotic list to restore pride in the UK and rebalance the economy.
The ideas are contained in a report from the Policy Exchange thinktank outlining how a massive infrastructure spending programme alongside a cultural renewal in Britain would help protect against the break-up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It calls for November 11 to become a bank holiday and for a review of sports events protected by the Broadcasting Act to ensure those in the national interest, such as international cricket, are free to watch. It also demands people are allowed to ‘display their area’s symbol or county coat of arms, flag, or similar, on their number plate, as is the case in many other European countries like Germany and Switzerland’.
Other suggestions from the thinktank include allowing regions to levy a tourist tax that would be ring-fenced for local investment.
Ms Foster last night issued a joint statement backing the report with the Tees Valley’s Tory mayor Ben Houchen, calling it ‘ exactly the right place to start’.
The pair said: ‘ Boris Johnson made clear his commitment to the Union – the “Awesome Foursome” as he put it. We know first-hand the talent that is spread across the UK and welcome the Prime Minister’s promise to help unlock this potential. Today’s excellent Policy Exchange report offers a blueprint for modernising the country.’
The report also calls for a Council of UK Civic Leaders – chaired by the Prime Minister – that would regularly meet Ministers and Whitehall officials. It would include town hall and county hall bosses as well as mayors in a bid to foster closer links across the country and the regions.
A number of former employees of the Policy Exchange think- tank now make up Mr Johnson’s policy team at No 10, with responsibility for drawing up the manifesto for future elections. Last night a Downing Street source said they would study the plans with interest.