It’s all in the headline really. But let’s just have a look at this. At a time when councils are forking out to take down flags hung up by the fascist weirdos of, erm, Raise the Flags, other flags are going up. Here’s what the BBC said is happening across Reform-led Nottinghamshire County Council:
More than 150 union jack flags will be displayed in 82 locations in Rushcliffe, Broxtowe, Bassetlaw, Newark, Mansfield, Ashfield and Gedling.
Council leader Mick Barton said displaying the flags had the potential to ‘strengthen community spirit’.
Well, Mick. Quite a lot of things could strengthen community spirit. Let’s have a look at poverty rates in the area.
Here’s the local government figures:
In Nottinghamshire (excluding the City of Nottingham) 22.2% of the child population 0-15 years were living in relative low income in 2023/24, compared to 21.1% in 2022/23, 23.2 %5 in 2021/22 and 15.4% in 2020/21.
Those look pretty shite.
Follow that link and you’ll see that the names of the very same places where the flags will go.
Flag wars, culture wars
Naturally some Labour politicians – who let’s face it, as a species, are as eager to weaponize flags as anyone – fired back. Councillor Helen Faccio told the BBC:
We heard when Reform came to power, that they would make council services more efficient and cut wasteful spending.
Then we hear about huge spending on flags. My residents would say we should spend money filling potholes or investing in youth clubs.
At the moment, flags are being used to divide us and that is not good for our community.
On the face of it, it is hard not to agree. But the fact is Labour are so fucking bereft of any answers to any of our material issues, that they tend to be just as horny for the Butcher’s Apron as the far-right.
I mean Keir Starmer posted a completely performative video of himself putting on a poppy (don’t worry it was on his jacket) just hours ago – replete with some misty-eyed music that sounds like it came off the soundtrack of Shaving Ryan’s Privates.
No, I mean Saving Private Ryan.
Very differently scored, those two:
Thank you, @PoppyLegion and all the volunteers who support our Armed Forces.
Every poppy worn across our country honours the courage and sacrifice of our Armed Forces community, both past and present. pic.twitter.com/O3gt6ZXJn5
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) October 24, 2025
God it’s fucking dull isn’t it? It’s not even that fun calling people flag-shagger anymore. That just feels so 2016, peak WW1 centenary.
It’s almost like we need to replace the culture war with some other kind of war. About some other kind of issue. Like, maybe, for once… a class war And not in that weird British identitarian way where class is a question of whether putting the milk first makes you a closet danger. Which it does, by the way. But, instead, class should be a question of who has power over the economy. And then, perhaps, we could help those kids in Nottinghamshire, and the 4.3 million others in poverty in this country.
Just a thought.
Featured image via Unsplash/Travis Leery
By Joe Glenton
This post was originally published on Canary.