A RED WALL MP has demanded a new law to make schools and public buildings fly the union flag.
Lee Anderson, who won the Ashfield seat for the Tories at last year’s election, has written to ministers urging them to help the nation celebrate Britain’s culture and heritage more.
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In an letter to Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove he said the move would be an “opportunity for everyone to come together and reassert our pride in our country”.
And in an article for The Sun he said his constituents were sick of “tokenistic virtue signalling” and “a rewriting of our history”.
Instead he said people wanted to “to learn from and embrace our past, to respect our heritage” to improve all our futures.
Mr Anderson said the move would “allow us to start celebrating British culture and history, rather than shying away from it, and demonstrate some pride in our country, just as people feel across the Pond in the US.
“We are a patriotic and proud bunch in Ashfield and Eastwood and we want our Conservative government to allow us to come together to reassert our pride in our country, and to defend staunchly our culture and heritage when they are under attack.”
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It comes after the National Trust revealed earlier this year that a third of its properties had “links to slavery” – and vowed to take action to address its past.
This year the Black Lives Matter movement has sparked a culture shift – with protesters tearing down statues and defacing monuments.
Four people have now have been charged with criminal damage after a statue of Bristol slave trader Edward Colston was toppled and pushed into a river during BLM protests.
Campaigners across the nation have renamed streets and buildings for fear of offence over controversial pasts.
Streets on a new housing estate have been given a string of bizarre new names, The Sun revealed this week.
They claim Diversity Grove, Equality Road, Respect Way, Destiny Road, Inspire Avenue and Humanity Close reflect “core values”.
But mocking locals suggested alternatives on the council’s Facebook page such as Desperation Way, Car Jack Alley and Snowflake Close.
Stephen McDonald, 43, said: “I think it isn’t very realistic or reflective but more of a publicity stunt trying to promote what a liberal society we are.”
‘We don’t want tokenistic virtue signalling, denials of our past, and a pointless re-writing of our history.’
By Lee Anderson MP
ONE year ago, areas like Ashfield and Eastwood voted Conservative for the first time in a generation.
They had found a party and a Prime Minister who spoke up for their priorities, who didn’t talk down to or lecture them and who didn’t shallowly dismiss their views as being racist or unacceptable.
And they turned their backs on an unpatriotic Labour Party that always sided with Britain’s enemies. But as the year has gone on, Labour and the politically correct brigade are shouting them down again.
The silent majority don’t sit around on Twitter all day – they’re too busy working, so their views are rarely heard in Westminster circles. But they are very proud of Britain, its culture and heritage, yet so often made to feel ashamed about it.
This year we’ve seen protestors getting away with desecrating the statue of Sir Winston Churchill and other historical monuments, a National Trust attempting to reconstruct our past and disgusting talk of “white privilege” – as if having white skin is in itself a form of racism.
The truth is, Britain is a bastion of freedom and has played an outstanding role across the world in education, art and culture, and has exported democracy and the rule of law around the globe.
And Britain continues to punch above its weight having been the first country in the world to approve the Covid vaccine.
I am proud to stand as a champion for the people of Ashfield and Eastwood in Westminster. We don’t want tokenistic virtue signalling, denials of our past, and a pointless re-writing of our history.
We want to focus on the here and now, to learn from and embrace our past, to respect our heritage and to teach our kids to use all that to improve our futures instead. And we can make a start by bringing in one simple change in the law.
That’s why I’ve written to the government asking for all schools and public buildings to be required to fly the Union flag. It will allow us to start celebrating British culture and history, rather than shying away from it, and demonstrate some pride in our country, just as people feel across the Pond in the US.
We are a patriotic and proud bunch in Ashfield and Eastwood and we want our Conservative government to allow us to come together to reassert our pride in our country, and to defend staunchly our culture and heritage when they are under attack.
Today Boris visited the north-east of England – a year after taking traditional Labour seats in his historic general election win.
The Prime Minister arrived in Blyth, Northumberland, where a major investment in an electric vehicle battery plant which could create up to 8,000 direct and indirect jobs was announced overnight.
Mr Johnson visited the ORE Catapult wind turbine testing plant beside the docks in the town, meeting apprentices under a 107m-long (351ft) blade.
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