My wife’s from Northern Ireland and the in-laws have recently moved over to be closer to us. They’re all feeling really at home, and no one is even painting the kerbstones (yet!)
Skin colour has absolutely nothing to do with it. I have black British friends who have no problem with our flag and there are white immigrants who’ll hate it as much as the self-loathing lefties.
Consider the wider recent context; the hotel arson attacks, the rhetoric from some areas of political leadership, the mass protests led by the likes of Yakley-Lennon.
Now imagine you arrived to England legally with a young family; let’s say as a nurse in the NHS - saving British lives.
In the time you’ve been here, the background mentioned above has been increasing significantly. Talk has gone from “protecting Britain” to “deport everyone, even those here legally”
Consider that the raising of flags has been a very distinct change from the prior status quo, and is now a very visible symbol of all of the background up to this point. Consider the new graffiti signs that appeared outside primary schools earlier this week saying “foreigners out” - would you feel your child(ren) were safe? How would you feel if a patient you were working on declared that they had marched with Tommy Robinson and helped put the flags up locally?
It’s important to look at the whole circumstance holistically. In that context, yes the raising of the flag can be intimidating. It’s not the flag itself that intimidates; it’s the change in the way it is being used that is the problem.
It has EVERYTHING. To do with it. The people putting them up don’t want integration, they want all the immigrants out, black, brown, they don’t care. You’re too white to see the nuance, and it’s really quite concerning.
You’re either deliberately ignoring the point, or so far down this rabbit hole unable to see anything that counters your view.
It isn’t the flag. It is the people putting them up. I’ll say it again so you can take some more time to read that.
It. Isnt. The. Flag. Itself. It. Is. The. Cretins. Putting. Them. Up. To. Intimidate. People.
You’ve even identified it yourself, but seem to have this dissonance between what you’re saying and what we’re saying which is the exact same thing. The people who are hooligans at football are almost exactly the same people protesting outside hotels, painting roundabouts and supporting knock-off Nigel.
Personally, I’m not in favour of poaching skilled healthcare workers from countries that arguably need them more than we do, but any reasonable person will accept the merits of controlled legal immigration.
Are we debating flags, or things that people are saying / writing?
That includes white illegal immigrants, so skin colour literally has nothing to do with it.
This will be a generalisation, but Indian doctors tend to integrate better and be more welcome here than Albanian criminals.
It’s relevant to the previous conversation related to Trumps ICE teams going out and abducting people irrelevant of their actual immigration or residency status, to which you didn’t seem too phased as it doesn’t affect ‘people like you’.
Going back to this. This honestly has changed the way I look at you on here. It either shows a complete ignorance about what is happening in America currently. Or, more likely given what you’ve been saying, shows you don’t care because they’re not grabbing white people off the streets.
Again, as above. This is a crazy statement. British people look, dress and sound incredibly different. We’re a diverse country, and for the better. It’s something I love about this country. We tolerate one another, we’re kind and caring. The kinds of people going out shouting at hotels for fun are frankly un-British as far as I’m concerned. Even though they might look, dress and sound very British to some.
What exactly is “dressing British” these days?
Jesus creeper sandals with socks, a kilt, Welsh rugby shirt and knotted white hankie on your head to prevent sunburn. Or any combination thereafter
To be fair to JustCallMeFlight, some of the people putting up the flags in his area include those from the local Hindu Temple - it’s a bit of a cross between taking it back from the bigot & the local culture wanting to be contrary to the rest of the country with a little bit of Royston-Vasey mindset (independent of ethnicity)
However this does not negate the rest of the country or some of the bigoted origin of the “raise the colours” cult.
Matalan or TK Max if you’re posh
Moving back to topic - this seems a good article re Trump & the ceasefire.
How Trump secured a Gaza breakthrough which eluded Biden
with all three points in mind
Clive Myrie comes to mind.
clearly not “white” but dresses and sounds very British - he is a news anchor on the BBC, he delivers the news with as Home Counties British Accent as you could hope for (despite being born in Bolton) and wears a suit during that role as well as anyone could expect.
but off the news (looking at his Caribbean adventures program as a go to, wears tshirt and jeans/shorts no differently to me)
Nadia Hussain - former Great British Bake Off Winner, turn “celebrity chef” - another “not white” Brit, and again someone with a distinctly British accent, yet her wardrobe is not conventionally “British”
This is the 21st Century - there is no “typical” Briton anymore to make such a statement as “i look British” as the pallet is filled from both extremes. Likewise “dress British” - we are (proudly imo) a multicultural society and there is no “British look”
there are plenty of other examples, Fatiha El-Ghorri born and bred in Hackney, wears a hijab and as aware and conscious of British culture as anyone would expect
There was a throwaway remark on the Telegraph’s Battle Lines podcast (link below) that any US president would have had the same influence over Israel.
I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I’m more inclined to agree with the BBC’s interpretation. This was very much about Trump’s strategy of love bombing Bibi and then threatening to back away because he’d gone too far. Ironically, this is exactly the same strategy that failed so spectacularly with Putin.
No peace prize for the orange one
It was decided on months ago & nominations before that.
Not a snub it’s just different awarding years.
Shun the Vikings and the Angles and the Saxon, Britain for true Britons only (and definitely not the ones from Brittany!
this
as i understand it, nominations for 2025 closed in January - ie when Trump took office.
he was never going to get it announced this year unless someone nominated him prior to his Second term getting off the ground.
listening to R4 PM last night it is highly unlikely because of points which was highlighted by Nina Gregor, Head of the Oslo Peace Research Institute
“Trump’s record speaks for itself,” Gregor said. “Withdrawing from international organisations and agreements, initiating trade wars, threatening to purchase Greenland, deploying the National Guard domestically, and interfering with freedom of expression and academic independence — all these have severely undermined his prospects.”
source: Nobel Peace Prize: Committee sends clear message on Trump
as well as withdrawing from the WHO and Paris accord - whatever he achives “today” (this year) in Gaza, it is countered by a big handful of other “non peaceful” acts already and so would be contradictory to suggest he is worthy of a “peace prize” when he hasn’t been completely peaceful
Whilst I don’t agree with a lot of the stuff he has had done, the ambition of a head strong, autocratic personality centres politician to achieve a Noble Peace prize as their definition of personal glory is quite positive in a away.
Not riches, or conquering territory, or statues but something that is recognition for the betterment of mankind in general.
It’s channelling the Ego into wider greatness but like everything it all comes down to the delivery. If the withdrawal from those institutions allows & delivers a peace that wasn’t able to achieve otherwise then the negatives don’t matter.
If it doesn’t deliver then all the negatives were for nothing.
The more I see of Trump the less I worry bout him personally & more his underlings who are implementing things on his behalf.
Calm down, Stuart Lee.