The war waged by those in authority on those who make overt displays of patriotism shows no sign of relenting. This campaign against Englishness and Britishness has never been an open, honest one, undertaken with manifest intent. This is a devious war pursued through crafty bureaucratic means and framed in the timorous language of health and safety.

This offensive began as a response to events last summer, when, under the banner of ‘Operation Raise the Colours’, many individuals took it upon themselves to attach St George’s and Union flags to lampposts throughout England. In response, many councils, prompted by complaints from some who felt ‘uncomfortable’, or run by those who feel uneasy at unrefined shows of patriotism, took them down on the grounds of health and safety. This was the justification given by councils in Birmingham, Tower Hamlets and South Gloucestershire. This January, Oxfordshire County Council also confirmed that it had removed 330 such flags, citing that they could cause ‘serious safety hazards’.

Havering Council on the fringes of east London has now joined the fray, doing so under the same pretext. It is set to withdraw permission for next month’s St George’s Day parade, run by the Scouts in Romford, due to road closures. As it said in a statement yesterday:

For most English people, the St George’s flag is simply a symbol of self-affirmation and resistance

The Metropolitan Police have made it clear to both the council and event organisers that, due to decreasing resources and budget constraints, they are no longer able to support parades.

It continues:

Due to public safety concerns, the council cannot endorse an event that involves participants walking in the road without an appropriate traffic management plan.

While the council may well have traffic management problems, this decision, undertaken with police consultation, will no doubt raise eyebrows – yet again. It’s curious that the Metropolitan Police have never seemed concerned about ‘resources and budget restraints’ when it comes to pro-Palestinian marches that have taken place in the capital since October 2003. Fiscal prudence at the Met has never prevented the annual Al Quds march in London by those who support the Iranian regime and the IRGC, a march which was due to descend on the capital this weekend, before late yesterday the rally was banned by the Home Secretary.

It’s funny – also very much not in the ‘ha ha’ sense – that the need for street repairs or concern for health and safety have not troubled councillors who will have also noticed Palestinian flags springing up in public places and on public street furniture in recent years. Perhaps these flags are biodegradable or made of tissue paper. Or perhaps, more likely, the people who run most local councils are cut from the same cloth as those who run the country. This is the timid establishment, forever keen to appease an aggressive variant of politicised Islam, who are forever inclined to deprecate this country’s white working class, the people who forever spread fear and panic about a resurgent ‘far right’.

Hardly any councils have removed Palestinian flags for the same reason that, come every summer, they all slavishly put up the Progress Pride Flag – one now perceived by many gay people as a symbol of hostility. Indeed, when it comes to trying to ally themselves with the trans cause, believing it will earn them brownie points from their progressive friends, those who run councils have blithely ignored regard for health or safety. By painting level crossings in rainbow colours, local councils have actively made some roads more dangerous for the elderly and for those with sight loss.

Everyone knows what these councils have been playing at. We all see through their unconvincing excuses. They resort to the ‘health and safety’ excuse because they are afraid to say openly what they really think: that they abhor displays of patriotism and don’t much like the people who might vote for them. The progressives in the higher echelons of the state gave the game away this week with the unveiling of this government’s social cohesion strategy ‘Protecting What Matters’. According to an early draft of the document, when hoisted in this context, English, Scottish and Union Jack flags are ‘tools of hate’ used by ‘the extreme right’ designed to ‘exclude or intimidate’. That wording was removed from the published version.

‘Extreme right’ – or ‘far right’ – has not only become a tedious and inaccurate misnomer. It is also now a code used within the establishment, by left-liberals and ultra-progressives alike, to describe a type of white working-class person – outspoken, uncouth, rude – who is proud to be English or British and is unashamed to make it known, no matter how unsophisticated this may appear in the scornful eyes of urbane north Londoners.

For most English people, the St George’s flag is simply a symbol of self-affirmation and resistance. For the white working class, it serves to make known their anger at having been ignored or deplored for so long – by precisely the types who run local councils today.