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<\/p>\nOrganisers say they are aiming to spread “love, unity and patriotism” with the flags that have appeared across Birmingham<\/p>\n
Graeme Brown is the editor of BirminghamLive and the Birmingham Mail, and senior editor at Reach PLC for Birmingham, the Black Country and Worcestershire<\/p>\n
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Birmingham seems to be enjoying a surge in civic pride judging by all the St George’s flags going up<\/a>. In Weoley Castle, Northfield, Sutton Coldfield and more – as well as parts of Solihull and the Black Country – flags have become a regular feature. Organisers say they are aiming to spread “love, unity and patriotism” with the flags. I don’t think that message is landing, though.<\/p>\n The dozens of emails I have received about this matter suggest it is in fact divisive. People love it because they feel it reflects them or hate it because they feel it targets them.<\/p>\n And let’s not be naive – flying a flag carries a message. You fly an Isreali or Palestinian flag, you aren’t saying you support their cricket team, you are saying you support a cause.<\/p>\n Being in England, though, is something that unites us all. A problem I have is how the English flag seems to have been co-opted.<\/p>\n As an example, today I watched people draped in the same St George’s cross shout abuse at asylum seekers<\/a> in a hotel.<\/p>\n Some may see that as patriotism – not me. The idea that we open our doors to people seeking asylum is on my list of reasons to be proud of England.<\/p>\n I want to be clear, I see why the people at that protest feel let down. They’re right to. It\u2019s fine to be concerned about immigration, too.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not fine, though, nor is it accurate, to blame families of asylum seekers packed into hotel rooms for it.<\/p>\n