MORONS on Facebook.....

[simonsimon]

Why would you want to display the flag of the Patron Saint of VD?

 

[sam86]

From 2001 until 2006 I managed off licences all over Sussex.

During the 2004 World Cup I had the flag of St George up over my windows and inside the shop in Steyning. I had an asian couple come into the shop and they told me I should take the flags down as not everybody in the country supports England. I also had an English guy come in and he said that I should take it down so as not to offend anyone. There was also a threatening letter which got handed over to the police although nothing came of that.

The other time I was working in an off licence in Seaford during the 2006 World Cup. Again I had asians come in, a group of them this time, they got quite nasty actually until the owner came out and calmed the situation down. I think it helped that he was Indian. He had no problem with the flags so why should they?

Obviously this is the minority we are speaking about here and not everyone is as narrow minded.

 

[El Presidente]

The facts are anyone that flys the flag nowadays is considered a low life. Sad but true.

That's odd, The Cheshire Seagulls flag of St George has travelled many thousands of miles, attended the last couple of Euro/WC, and will be going to South Africa in four weeks.

No one has ever intimated, suggested or stated that my fellow flag bearers and I are low life, are we missing out on something?

 

[alan partridge]

There are loads of people that think this and I have been asked to take down the St George Cross on many occasions - never have I agreed and never will I.

bollocks you have. don't believe you.

 

[chez]

bollocks you have. don't believe you.

Yeah coz that really bothers me.

 

[chez]

Oops, sorry meant 2004 Euro's.

 

[daveinprague]

Yeah coz that really bothers me.

Ive edited. It doesnt really deserve the original response, but these sort of things do help to identify some real wallies that come to this board.
You want to blame ANYBODY over the issues with the Union flag, and the Flag of St George
blame the RACIST groups that have hijacked it and denigrated its use over the last 40 years.

but of course...EVERYBODY believes you have been asked many times to take down your flag...no...really.....

 

[Lord Bracknell]

From 2001 until 2006 I managed off licences all over Sussex.

During the 2004 World Cup I had the flag of St George up over my windows and inside the shop in Steyning. I had an asian couple come into the shop and they told me I should take the flags down as not everybody in the country supports England. I also had an English guy come in and he said that I should take it down so as not to offend anyone. There was also a threatening letter which got handed over to the police although nothing came of that.

The other time I was working in an off licence in Seaford during the 2006 World Cup. Again I had asians come in, a group of them this time, they got quite nasty actually until the owner came out and calmed the situation down. I think it helped that he was Indian. He had no problem with the flags so why should they?

Obviously this is the minority we are speaking about here and not everyone is as narrow minded.

So ... if I read this right, there was NO-ONE in any official position who objected to you flying the English flag.

 

[chez]

So ... if I read this right, there was NO-ONE in any official position who objected to you flying the English flag.

Correct, nobody official protested.

Was that the question here then, was it only about officials? If so then I didn't read the thread properly. Sorry.

 

[Chesney Christ]

Yep, they are. I can't believe some people have the nerve to moan about the St George Cross or the Union Jack. If they dont like the country's flag and it offends them so much then they can easily f*** off. They are welcome to live here, but don't take the piss.

There are loads of people that think this and I have been asked to take down the St George Cross on many occasions - never have I agreed and never will I.

Utter bollocks. Utter utter bollocks. You should be ashamed of yourself making up horseshit like this.

 

[cunning fergus]

So ... if I read this right, there was NO-ONE in any official position who objected to you flying the English flag.

Has there not been a trend of those in 'officaldom' having issues with the flying and display of St GC flags?

I am no expert but as I understand it there are rules on how flags can be flown, and there have definitely been cases historically of Council 'officials' ordering people to take flags down because 'permission' had not been obtained? Not sure if this law has now been relaxed now.

Then there are also the health and safety rules, and wasn't there a cases recently of a woman in Nottingham having flags cut down?

Didn't Brenford ban a St GC with Born in England, Live in England, Die in England on it some time ago......seem to recall the club officials and Martin Allen stating it was offensive in the press.

Whilst not a flag, didn't Southampton Council also ban taxi drivers from having St GC stickers saying 'English speaking taxi driver'?

By the way I don't think there is a conspiracy as many seem to believe either, but the way some 'officials' zealously pursue rules to the detriment of common sense creates suspicion that there is a conspiracy.......that's what I think anyway.

 

[KneeOn]

Has there not been a trend of those in 'officaldom' having issues with the flying and display of St GC flags?

I am no expert but as I understand it there are rules on how flags can be flown, and there have definitely been cases historically of Council 'officials' ordering people to take flags down because 'permission' had not been obtained? Not sure if this law has now been relaxed now.

Then there are also the health and safety rules, and wasn't there a cases recently of a woman in Nottingham having flags cut down?

Didn't Brenford ban a St GC with Born in England, Live in England, Die in England on it some time ago......seem to recall the club officials and Martin Allen stating it was offensive in the press.

Whilst not a flag, didn't Southampton Council also ban taxi drivers from having St GC stickers saying 'English speaking taxi driver'?

By the way I don't think there is a conspiracy as many seem to believe either, but the way some 'officials' zealously pursue rules to the detriment of common sense creates suspicion that there is a conspiracy.......that's what I think anyway.

Actually I thought that the Union Jack and the Home Nation flags were EXEMPT from planning permissions.

 

[cunning fergus]

Actually I thought that the Union Jack and the Home Nation flags were EXEMPT from planning permissions.

Not sure, however I recall a case of a bloke whose son came back from Iraq or somewhere and he had not got permission for the flag poles. There is a distinction between vertical poles and poles at an angle.

I can't be bothered to Google it but it wasn't in the Daily Mail!

 

[Pot noodles for everyone]

This from the BBC website last week

BBC News - Row as England flags cut down in Nottingham street

A Nottingham council has defended its decision to cut down a set of England flags strung across a street. Doreen Carnelley, 74, said she had put the full-sized flags across Sturgeon Avenue to mark the World Cup. Mrs Carnelley explained how she found the banners on her hedge and thought they had just fallen down but was upset to be told the rope had been cut. The city council said it was illegal to attach items to street lights without permission. It added that complaints had also been received.......................

My highlights. Rather telling that last highlight as the cynic in me thinks that the complaints are probably the real motivating factor in the council's original decision. They've now relented as it turns out they are NOT illegal merely offensive to right on numpties.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

The city council said it was illegal to attach items to street lights without permission. It added that complaints had also been received.......................

My highlights. Rather telling that last highlight as the cynic in me thinks that the complaints are probably the real motivating factor in the council's original decision. They've now relented as it turns out they are NOT illegal merely offensive to right on numpties.

There's still no confirmation that the complaints were received from people objecting to the fact that they were England flags.

Having looked at Sturgeon Avenue, Nottingham, on google street view, it's quite obvious that it's not a street that lends itself to the safe hanging of anything across it. The street lights are widely spread and anything strung across the road from a lighting column would droop dangerously.

And, having worked in a council highways department, I can confirm that street lighting people go to great lengths to discourage anyone from thinking that lighting columns are available for hanging unauthorised stuff on.

 

[Pot noodles for everyone]

That's all well and good except that this woman has been doing this for years without any harm whatsoever to any motorist, pedestrian, bird, mammal or council official. All of a sudden the council turn up and it's either a decision based on Nanny-knows-best despite there being absolutely no evidence to support a health and safety issue or it's a snide way of the local council pandering to the right-on brigade. What a wonderful country we live in, eh?

I would also point out that if there was any (and I do mean any) hint that these are a hazard then the council would never have relented. In today's writ-happy culture, public bodies take a very risk-adverse approach as the first and only option.

Nope, I still don't buy the health and safety explanation.

p.s. I thought it was a lovely touch for the council to leave the flags dumped in the hedge.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Nope, I still don't buy the health and safety explanation.

But this story CONFIRMS that the health and safety explanation is the CORRECT one. The Council have backed down.

BBC News - Apology over England flags cut down in Nottingham

Your suggestion that there is an anti-England theme running through the incident is WRONG.

 

[Pot noodles for everyone]

Maybe I'm reading it wrong but that article has the council leader quoted as saying:

".....The guys are going to go back and put the flags back up."

So how does that fit in with your conclusion that it's a health and safety risk?

And unless you have inside knowledge of this individual case, I'd suggest that your comment that I am wrong is guesswork. None of us will ever really know the true story behind the original decision.

Edit - apologies, I see what you're getting at, LB, but I hardly think think that if the original decision was made on slightly more pernicious grounds (as I suspect it was) then the council leader is hardly going to admit to it. Which brings me back to the point that you and I are in no position to be stating whether the official explanation is correct, wrong or whatever.

 

[El Presidente]

Edit - apologies, I see what you're getting at, LB, but I hardly think think that if the original decision was made on slightly more pernicious grounds (as I suspect it was) then the council leader is hardly going to admit to it. Which brings me back to the point that you and I are in no position to be stating whether the official explanation is correct, wrong or whatever.

Given that the council is a public body I suspect there are minuted notes of both the complaint and the decision, so it can be proved whether the council leader is talking the truth or is the liar you are hinting at.

 

[clapham_gull]

Always amuses me to see that people are thick enough to pick up isolated stories about flags and think it's the way of the world.

I lived in London for years and the place is always awash with St. George at the time of the World Cup or Euros (if we've manage to qualify).

The supermarkets are also full of the usual tat.

I did fly the St George flag but now I am sure everyone thinks racist scum. The facts are anyone that flys the flag nowadays is considered a low life. Sad but true.

Unsurprisingly, that's all in your head.