Farage’s potential rival on the right, Conservative Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick, also appears to see political merit in backing the campaign. He posted a picture of himself up a ladder hanging a flag, and followed up with an opinion piece in the right-leaning Telegraph newspaper claiming people were “mobilising to restore the country they know and love.”
Filling the vacuum
The movement could be a big test for Starmer, the embattled prime minister and leader of the center-left Labour Party.
Since taking the reins of the party in 2020, Starmer has been at pains to insist he is “proud of being patriotic,” often appearing in front of a Union Jack flag and pointedly marking St. George’s Day.
The British prime minister, who has been on holiday, told journalists through his spokesman on Tuesday that he “supports people who have got pride in our flag and our history and our values,” pointing to the flags which are put up on Downing Street when England plays in international sporting tournaments.
But Sunder Katwala, director of the think tank British Future, is wary. He thinks politicians like Starmer should be going further in their response to the Raise the Colours movement — and make it clear that while “pride in place is good, vandalism is bad.”
Ethnic minority politicians on the left and the right should also be taking on those who claim the flag is for one group, he says.