[kreuzberger]

Aye, the case is now sub judice and, dependent upon where the trial is held, his "occupation" could sway a jury.

[davidjay]

Aye, the case is now sub judice and, dependent upon where the trial is held, his "occupation" could sway a jury.

I don't suppose any jurist won't make the connection.

[Abernathy]

“Raise the Colours” is of course nothing more than a calculated racist far-right provocation, their protestations of it being merely a spontaneous demonstration of national pride and patriotism a blatant, Trump style lie (which a fair few hard-of-thinking dimwits buy into (“what’s wrong with being proud of the national flag?” ) . But the cheapo flags, where they still remain, are of course now looking tatty, dirty, and raggedy , and to many (well, me at any rate), it simply looks bloody silly. When you stop and think about it, attaching loads of flags to lamp-posts just is an inherently bloody silly idea. .

I’d go further. Rather than encouraging and generating national pride, it seems to me that hanging flags everywhere actually devalues the flag. If it’s everywhere, it’s unremarkable, and even irritating.

So I’d say that “Raise the Colours” has actually failed in its objectives - even its principal one of being a racist provocation. Yes, people were provoked, but mostly the reaction has been to dismiss these wankers as knuckle-dragging idiots. They’ve drawn attention to themselves by dint of their idiocy. That there has been violence and intimidation perpetrated by the flag wankers has only made it worse.

[Oboogie]

I’d go further. Rather than encouraging and generating national pride, it seems to me that hanging flags everywhere actually devalues the flag. If it’s everywhere, it’s unremarkable, and even irritating.

It definitely devalues. If something is omnipresent as these tossers intend it loses impact and becomes meaningless and mundane.
Flagshagging is something I associate with totalitarian regimes, not democracies - the notable exception being the USA (even pre-MAGA).
It's not a British tradition to have flags everywhere - international sporting events, Royal events and World War 2 anniversaries used to be the only occasions you'd see flags out, it had meaning. If a building was flying a flag it conveyed information - it's some kind of civic office, a town hall, council offices, something military perhaps - it served a purpose.

NB I am talking about Great Britain, I'm fully aware that what I've said doesn't apply to Northern Ireland where the two communities have different flagshagging traditions - although I'd argue that the motivation to exclude 'the other' is similar.

[davidjay]

I would say that Raise the Colours has succeeded in its primary aim - Ryan Bridge and a few others have made serious money.

[Watchman]

What intrigues me about these patriots and defenders of English values, culture, and traditions; when a group of travellers pitch their caravans on the village green (a dog whistle the Mail loves to use), there's no "call to arms", no emails/tweets saying set fire to their caravans....I put it down to these SAS trained patriots being shit scared of some hard little fuckers.

[RedSparrows]

“Raise the Colours” is of course nothing more than a calculated racist far-right provocation, their protestations of it being merely a spontaneous demonstration of national pride and patriotism a blatant, Trump style lie (which a fair few hard-of-thinking dimwits buy into (“what’s wrong with being proud of the national flag?” ) . But the cheapo flags, where they still remain, are of course now looking tatty, dirty, and raggedy , and to many (well, me at any rate), it simply looks bloody silly. When you stop and think about it, attaching loads of flags to lamp-posts just is an inherently bloody silly idea. .

I’d go further. Rather than encouraging and generating national pride, it seems to me that hanging flags everywhere actually devalues the flag. If it’s everywhere, it’s unremarkable, and even irritating.

So I’d say that “Raise the Colours” has actually failed in its objectives - even its principal one of being a racist provocation. Yes, people were provoked, but mostly the reaction has been to dismiss these wankers as knuckle-dragging idiots. They’ve drawn attention to themselves by dint of their idiocy. That there has been violence and intimidation perpetrated by the flag wankers has only made it worse.

The fact they're tatty, half-attached, uncared for, speaks volumes.

Symbolic act of pathetic 'defiance' and resentment, followed up by... what? Care? Continuity? Consistency?

My foot.