Letters

page 4 of 4

Dear Messenger,

I’m fed up with seeing all these St George flags all over the place. It stinks of narrow-minded nationalism.

I don’t know how many nation states there are on this planet, but each has a flag, each has people from many countries and cultures living it. Look at us in Sheffield, not just Burngreave. We have people from all over the planet and yet there is all this retrogressive petty triumphalism around one national flag. No matter how much I try to shrug it off and live and let live, I can’t help feeling that the people who fly these flags would not do the same for me.

Of course I could blame the manufacturers and sellers of these flags – they could manufacture a design incorporating loads of different flags to give a message of acceptance, celebration, openness and freedom. But they don’t.

So what is it with the cross of St George mob mentality? Fear of others? A loss of identity? Insecurity? Put these aside. We are all better off for it. If you want to go elsewhere on this planet and be treated with respect and left alone, then you start with yourself, the people around you, your family, your home area, town and yes, even nation state. Then you can go anywhere. This is about wider values over and above all our different cultures and creeds.

With respect,
Phil Hutchinson