ROSS KEMP: ‘We must reclaim England’s flag on St George’s Day – racists won’t win’
On St George’s Day, EastEnders hardman turned gang-whisperer Ross Kemp calls on England to reclaim our Englishness, standing up for a nation rooted in pride not prejudice
Former Eastender Ross Kemp says: ‘There isn’t just one way to be English. What matters is that you care for your fellow citizens, feel like you belong here and share the values that hold us together.’
Ask people what it means to be English right now, and you won’t always get a clear answer. You might get a shrug. Or maybe an argument. Even some people who are proud of being English – and most of us are – don’t even want to talk about it, following months when high-profile bigots have tried to co-opt our shared identity, and use it to attack people with different skin colour or a different faith.
That’s nothing new – the National Front tried it before – but it is a real problem. The risk is that if we go quiet, we let those few define our national identity and sully our nation. The good news is that the racists and the bigots are a tiny minority. The vast, vast majority of people see skin colour and religion as irrelevant to Englishness. What matters is belonging, commitment to each other and our shared values.
Today is Saint George’s Day. And it’s an opportunity for the quiet majority to raise our voice. To say that our flag isn’t a stick to beat each other with, it’s a rallying symbol of our nation and our values – designed to bring us together. Of course, Englishness is lots of things to different people. And that’s ok. In fact, I hear there’s a new pack of playing cards (a ‘pocket museum’) being launched on Saint George’s day, with 50 objects that the public feel represent Englishness. From the flag (obvs) to one of those beach wind break things. For me, I’d vote for a cold pint and a chicken kebab.
But that’s the point. There isn’t just one way to be English. What matters is that you care for your fellow citizens, feel like you belong here and share the values that hold us together. Fairness. Decency. Looking someone in the eye and treating them properly. Queuing. Getting on with things, even when they’re tough. Talking about the weather. Moaning about the football.
That’s the England I know. And it’s the reason I love the people who are working so hard to bring communities together this Saint George’s Day. I love the church and mosque who are coming together in Birmingham to walk together, to celebrate their unity and commitment to a shared England.
I love the huge event planned for Gravesend led by school kids. The faith leaders meeting in London to bring their different communities together on our patron Saint’s day. There’s so much happening, and it is those people who are the true patriots of England. Because what they are doing is building our country, strengthening it, and giving meaning to the flag rather than just waving it.
This summer we’ll have the World Cup, which means our unity will matter more than normal. It will be exactly 60 years since the last victory. Our team will be a reflection of modern England, different backgrounds, different skin colours but one shirt and one mission. To bring it home.
Our mission, as a public, should be to provide all the support we can. To show that we are all behind them, one nation cheering them on in the stadiums, in the local pub and with mates around the telly. That’s what the vast majority of people will do – whether you normally follow football or not. Because we are proud to be English. Not of some imagined past. But of who we are today. It’s time for more of us to step forward and show what an England United can really look like. A nation united in pride not prejudice.”
No_Echo2745 on
Another attack on English identity. It’s not actually a feeling or a value proposition, it is indeed an ethnic group.
PomeloTraditional971 on
The things he’s talking about sound like Britishness. Being English is different and is tied to a common ancestry, history and culture.
jj01709 on
Gaslighting left strike again. Gotta love the radicals🤪
solostrings on
Could we not just have it as a bank holiday? Since Northern Ireland and Scotland get theirs it would be reasonable for England and Wales to get it as well. That way it is equal. People can celebrate if and how they want, and it would likely take the wind out of the sails of people marching when everyone in the country is off together.
Maybe have the first one as a celebration of English achievements and do the same with the other nations for their own great inventors, scientists, and so on. It would set the tone as being about the positive contribution of each nation.
gelliant_gutfright on
These days you’ll be arrested and thrown in jail just for saying you’re English.
snakeoildriller on
Serious answers only please and I’m not taking sides..
if people are against displaying the UK national flag, which flag would they fly instead? I’m taking the US as an example where flying the Stars and Stripes is accepted.
BastardsCryinInnit on
I understand the sentiment but St George’s Day has never been a “thing”. It is just a day.
If you want to make something more festival and celebratory like of St George’s Day, go for it.
But if it is just about flags… meh!
AppropriateDig9401 on
We haven’t been allowed to fly a UK or St Georges cross for years without being called racist. This is nothing new.
rain3h on
Ah St George, the man who was an international traveler, you could even say an immigrant.
Who it’s also believed never even visited England.
I love the irony of racists using a flag named after an immigrant who never even visited.
Grim_Reaper17 on
It’s a great way of seeing where scum live. They fly the flag from their home.
Old_Roof on
I agree with Ross.
It should be a bank holiday. A cracking day in the pub, or a long walk or to read/learn about Shakespeare (his birthday)
Triffly on
How the hell are you going to tell if someone flying the flag is racist or not…
DigiSceptic on
I’ll tell you what I’m against, paid far-right agitators, basically the mindless dickheads putting up shitty Chinese made flags on every lamppost, like that means something. It doesn’t.
Being English goes against EVERTHING the far-right stands for. We fought and beat the Nazi murdering scum. It needs to stay that way.
hantsspur on
Stop calling anyone who puts the flag up racist then.
Legal_Alternative258 on
Is he making things up again like he did with his Incel hit piece?
I wish some English people could be normal about flags. There are not many countries where a flag has been so hijacked.
I would offer solutions that might make the racists feel better, but I don’t think anything sort of mass expulsions can.
Instead for the rest of us, I do love celebrating the country I live in. A national day could be a fun unifying thing.
In the Netherlands we have King’s day and everyone is decked out in orange and flags painted on faces. It’s our Rio carnival and a day of non stop partying.
I would love something like that in the UK. But with the drinking problem of a certain demographic, not sure how peaceful that would remain in certain areas. Still we could try.
SidneyDeane10 on
Gays for palestine flags will be out hahaha fucking mugs 🤣
Englandshark1 on
Nothing racist about our Flag and St. George’s Day! It makes me laugh how people who haven’t the slightest connection with Ireland go all out for St. Patrick’s Day but don’t even bother with their own Patron Saint. We should have a bank holiday like all the other countries do.
Bulky_Ruin_6247 on
As someone who hangs out in right wing spaces, one h the biggest factors in the rise of ethno nationalism and ethnic awareness is the idea that the English ethnicity is being erased.
Ross is doing the same thing here by claiming that being English is nothing to do with history, heritage, ancestry, which it is, like any other ethnicity. He’s claiming being English is just some vague feeling that anyone can be part of just by queuing and “moaning about football”
We don’t do this about any other ethnicity. It’s only English that is reduced in this way to vague feelings that can’t be pinned down. Removing a link between English ethnicity and English people.
If he thinks this idea will bring right wing English on board he’s deluded.
thr0w4w4y2189 on
Growing up in a family that had outdated, bigot views on the world, but forming my own opinion – I find this rhetoric kind of exhausting. If you asked me what being English signifies, I can’t tell you.
IMO, the people that embrace the flag are xenophobes that can’t see the irony of St George (even if he did exist) having never set foot in England, the country being such a mishmash of invasions and cultural muddling, I am unsure of what being English really is. Are we proud of colonisation, bland food, or pretty much being the discarded step child of Italy?
Of course when racists use the flag, they use it on the backdrop of being proud if the wars ‘we won’, wars that were also helped by Gurkas and other international allies. The flag pride are all roar and little bite, I’d be pushed to find one flag lover who justify reasons for its use beyond trying to alienate foreigners in a game not unlike animals pissing on their territory. When US citizens use their flag, traditionally it has meant a veteran is close to them or to highlight the country being an independent nation free of overbearing countries trying to make them buy unwanted tea leaves. I’m so sick to fd about either the St G or Union flag being used as a mask of racism.
Fluffy-Republic8610 on
It’s the lack of interest in flags that defines an identity’s state of health and confidence. “Reclaiming” flags is just as unhealthy as claiming them. Just don’t let another groups hysteria cause hysteria in you. Keep calm… Etc
Any-Memory2630 on
So much banging on about ethnic groups in here is exactly why this nonsense should be ignored.
Dumb flag scum
UseADifferentVolcano on
Everyone should have a full English on St George’s day. That should be our tradition. Go to the pub or a greasy spoon for it if you can to make it special. Have all the trimmings.
Pour a red cross over the top in ketchup if you wanna make it more festive.
shamone_mofo on
🏴☠️ my flag ! The union flag and st George belong to king Charles and Westminster not the people 🏴☠️ Rebellion 🏴☠️
Lukeyboy97 on
If you dont like the flag of my country then leave. You wouldn’t go to another country and tell them they can’t fly their flag with pride so dont do it here.
oddun on
> EastEnders hardman turned gang-whisperer Ross Kemp
27 Comments
ROSS KEMP: ‘We must reclaim England’s flag on St George’s Day – racists won’t win’
On St George’s Day, EastEnders hardman turned gang-whisperer Ross Kemp calls on England to reclaim our Englishness, standing up for a nation rooted in pride not prejudice
Former Eastender Ross Kemp says: ‘There isn’t just one way to be English. What matters is that you care for your fellow citizens, feel like you belong here and share the values that hold us together.’
Ask people what it means to be English right now, and you won’t always get a clear answer. You might get a shrug. Or maybe an argument. Even some people who are proud of being English – and most of us are – don’t even want to talk about it, following months when high-profile bigots have tried to co-opt our shared identity, and use it to attack people with different skin colour or a different faith.
That’s nothing new – the National Front tried it before – but it is a real problem. The risk is that if we go quiet, we let those few define our national identity and sully our nation. The good news is that the racists and the bigots are a tiny minority. The vast, vast majority of people see skin colour and religion as irrelevant to Englishness. What matters is belonging, commitment to each other and our shared values.
Today is Saint George’s Day. And it’s an opportunity for the quiet majority to raise our voice. To say that our flag isn’t a stick to beat each other with, it’s a rallying symbol of our nation and our values – designed to bring us together. Of course, Englishness is lots of things to different people. And that’s ok. In fact, I hear there’s a new pack of playing cards (a ‘pocket museum’) being launched on Saint George’s day, with 50 objects that the public feel represent Englishness. From the flag (obvs) to one of those beach wind break things. For me, I’d vote for a cold pint and a chicken kebab.
But that’s the point. There isn’t just one way to be English. What matters is that you care for your fellow citizens, feel like you belong here and share the values that hold us together. Fairness. Decency. Looking someone in the eye and treating them properly. Queuing. Getting on with things, even when they’re tough. Talking about the weather. Moaning about the football.
That’s the England I know. And it’s the reason I love the people who are working so hard to bring communities together this Saint George’s Day. I love the church and mosque who are coming together in Birmingham to walk together, to celebrate their unity and commitment to a shared England.
I love the huge event planned for Gravesend led by school kids. The faith leaders meeting in London to bring their different communities together on our patron Saint’s day. There’s so much happening, and it is those people who are the true patriots of England. Because what they are doing is building our country, strengthening it, and giving meaning to the flag rather than just waving it.
This summer we’ll have the World Cup, which means our unity will matter more than normal. It will be exactly 60 years since the last victory. Our team will be a reflection of modern England, different backgrounds, different skin colours but one shirt and one mission. To bring it home.
Our mission, as a public, should be to provide all the support we can. To show that we are all behind them, one nation cheering them on in the stadiums, in the local pub and with mates around the telly. That’s what the vast majority of people will do – whether you normally follow football or not. Because we are proud to be English. Not of some imagined past. But of who we are today. It’s time for more of us to step forward and show what an England United can really look like. A nation united in pride not prejudice.”
Another attack on English identity. It’s not actually a feeling or a value proposition, it is indeed an ethnic group.
The things he’s talking about sound like Britishness. Being English is different and is tied to a common ancestry, history and culture.
Gaslighting left strike again. Gotta love the radicals🤪
Could we not just have it as a bank holiday? Since Northern Ireland and Scotland get theirs it would be reasonable for England and Wales to get it as well. That way it is equal. People can celebrate if and how they want, and it would likely take the wind out of the sails of people marching when everyone in the country is off together.
Maybe have the first one as a celebration of English achievements and do the same with the other nations for their own great inventors, scientists, and so on. It would set the tone as being about the positive contribution of each nation.
These days you’ll be arrested and thrown in jail just for saying you’re English.
Serious answers only please and I’m not taking sides..
if people are against displaying the UK national flag, which flag would they fly instead? I’m taking the US as an example where flying the Stars and Stripes is accepted.
I understand the sentiment but St George’s Day has never been a “thing”. It is just a day.
If you want to make something more festival and celebratory like of St George’s Day, go for it.
But if it is just about flags… meh!
We haven’t been allowed to fly a UK or St Georges cross for years without being called racist. This is nothing new.
Ah St George, the man who was an international traveler, you could even say an immigrant.
Who it’s also believed never even visited England.
I love the irony of racists using a flag named after an immigrant who never even visited.
It’s a great way of seeing where scum live. They fly the flag from their home.
I agree with Ross.
It should be a bank holiday. A cracking day in the pub, or a long walk or to read/learn about Shakespeare (his birthday)
How the hell are you going to tell if someone flying the flag is racist or not…
I’ll tell you what I’m against, paid far-right agitators, basically the mindless dickheads putting up shitty Chinese made flags on every lamppost, like that means something. It doesn’t.
Being English goes against EVERTHING the far-right stands for. We fought and beat the Nazi murdering scum. It needs to stay that way.
Stop calling anyone who puts the flag up racist then.
Is he making things up again like he did with his Incel hit piece?
*[No Ross, it isn’t what you think it is. ](https://youtu.be/C_DkvRU-dZg)*
I wish some English people could be normal about flags. There are not many countries where a flag has been so hijacked.
I would offer solutions that might make the racists feel better, but I don’t think anything sort of mass expulsions can.
Instead for the rest of us, I do love celebrating the country I live in. A national day could be a fun unifying thing.
In the Netherlands we have King’s day and everyone is decked out in orange and flags painted on faces. It’s our Rio carnival and a day of non stop partying.
I would love something like that in the UK. But with the drinking problem of a certain demographic, not sure how peaceful that would remain in certain areas. Still we could try.
Gays for palestine flags will be out hahaha fucking mugs 🤣
Nothing racist about our Flag and St. George’s Day! It makes me laugh how people who haven’t the slightest connection with Ireland go all out for St. Patrick’s Day but don’t even bother with their own Patron Saint. We should have a bank holiday like all the other countries do.
As someone who hangs out in right wing spaces, one h the biggest factors in the rise of ethno nationalism and ethnic awareness is the idea that the English ethnicity is being erased.
Ross is doing the same thing here by claiming that being English is nothing to do with history, heritage, ancestry, which it is, like any other ethnicity. He’s claiming being English is just some vague feeling that anyone can be part of just by queuing and “moaning about football”
We don’t do this about any other ethnicity. It’s only English that is reduced in this way to vague feelings that can’t be pinned down. Removing a link between English ethnicity and English people.
If he thinks this idea will bring right wing English on board he’s deluded.
Growing up in a family that had outdated, bigot views on the world, but forming my own opinion – I find this rhetoric kind of exhausting. If you asked me what being English signifies, I can’t tell you.
IMO, the people that embrace the flag are xenophobes that can’t see the irony of St George (even if he did exist) having never set foot in England, the country being such a mishmash of invasions and cultural muddling, I am unsure of what being English really is. Are we proud of colonisation, bland food, or pretty much being the discarded step child of Italy?
Of course when racists use the flag, they use it on the backdrop of being proud if the wars ‘we won’, wars that were also helped by Gurkas and other international allies. The flag pride are all roar and little bite, I’d be pushed to find one flag lover who justify reasons for its use beyond trying to alienate foreigners in a game not unlike animals pissing on their territory. When US citizens use their flag, traditionally it has meant a veteran is close to them or to highlight the country being an independent nation free of overbearing countries trying to make them buy unwanted tea leaves. I’m so sick to fd about either the St G or Union flag being used as a mask of racism.
It’s the lack of interest in flags that defines an identity’s state of health and confidence. “Reclaiming” flags is just as unhealthy as claiming them. Just don’t let another groups hysteria cause hysteria in you. Keep calm… Etc
So much banging on about ethnic groups in here is exactly why this nonsense should be ignored.
Dumb flag scum
Everyone should have a full English on St George’s day. That should be our tradition. Go to the pub or a greasy spoon for it if you can to make it special. Have all the trimmings.
Pour a red cross over the top in ketchup if you wanna make it more festive.
🏴☠️ my flag ! The union flag and st George belong to king Charles and Westminster not the people 🏴☠️ Rebellion 🏴☠️
If you dont like the flag of my country then leave. You wouldn’t go to another country and tell them they can’t fly their flag with pride so dont do it here.
> EastEnders hardman turned gang-whisperer Ross Kemp
🤣