By Bones McCoy
#94822
Boiler wrote: Sat Aug 23, 2025 2:01 pm It would seem that, according to The Guardian, that one of the groups organising the hotel 'protests' is none other than the bastards who stood local election candidates near me; the Homeland Party.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... posts-show
This is their little "Unite the right" play for the summer silly season.

Credit to them, they've finally clocked that lobbing bricks at coppers is not a good look.
By davidjay
#94825
Bones McCoy wrote: Sat Aug 23, 2025 11:57 am
davidjay wrote: Sat Aug 23, 2025 11:46 am It might be the fash on the streets organising it but I wouldn't be in the slightest bit surprised to see Reform or (especially) Reichstag Rupert involved in the background.
I certainly expect their "magic money tree" is assisting with the funding.

This represents something of a dream situation for the genuine Fash.
Combine their "will" with Reform's resources.
They'd be balls deep in hookers and blow for ever.
They're not doing a bad job of it at the moment.
User avatar
By Abernathy
#94827
This gave me cause to chuckle.
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By Abernathy
#94848
Good piece, that. See also this, from the Fleecebook. But I still think that generally speaking, flags are nothing but trouble.
OPINION: Our flag - by Lucas Wilde.
I remember when I was ten years-old. We went to an end-of-the-pier show; me, my sister, my parents and my grandparents. Looking back, even in 1996, it was delightfully old-fashioned as such shows are; sketch comedy, old songs, crowd participation, even someone fired out of cannon.

The whole boisterous evening ended with a rousing rendition of "Land of Hope and Glory", the whole crowd joining in and waving little England flags that had been provided. Just wonderful.

Now I'm nearly forty, my back hurts, none of the pop music is for me anymore, and I'm still steadfastly clinging on to what that flag means in my heart: togetherness, joy, and ACTUAL patriotism.

Like many, I wish the nationwide perception of that flag was still the same. Alas, we all know it isn't. Co-opted and corrupted by a snarling, formerly-underground tribe of right-wing extremists. I say "formerly", because they've somehow learned marketing over the last twenty years and are becoming more mainstream by the day. Tommy Robinson/Stephen Yaxley-Lennon/Prisoner 88/Snow White's eighth dwarf named "Bitter" will even teach you the marketing bit for thirty quid a minute, should you be unable to find a window from which to throw your money (chances are he'd be waiting underneath it anyway).

We get to wheel out the flag with good intentions when The Sport is on or when The Royals have a thing. But those seem to be the exceptions. Other than that, it's been hijacked by "peaceful protestors" hurling a bin through a hotel window, claiming they are "only worried about our kids"; an argument that has no basis in actual logic as they have no idea who is even STAYING at the hotel, only that they are asylum seekers and therefore a threat. There is/was no such concern or protests from the same people for children in care homes, for example, where there have been many abuse scandals that have been reported but received little mainstream attention; and they certainly haven't appeared in any of Tommy Ten-Names' appeals for cash.

There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest asylum seekers, refugees or immigrants are any more dangerous as a demographic than anybody else. Nigel Farage, Reform CEO and the occasional MP for Clacton, tried to whip up a storm in a Facebook post on August 7th by saying that "211 people living in migrant hotels have been charged with 425 offences so far this year". His followers reacted with shock, anger, disdain, never once stopping to consider that there are 32,000 migrants living in hotels (which is a lot, but the peak was 56,000 in September of 2023 and, somehow, nobody cared enough to start a fire). Maths fans will already know where I'm going: Farage is using 0.66% of a group as evidence. In other words, throw a tennis ball into that group of hotel migrants (no, Tommy, put the brick down, you silly sausage), your chances of hitting a criminal are a bit lower then Phoebe Waller-Bridge being the next James Bond (100/1 according to the bookies, but I would pay to see that tbh).

Farage, Robinson et al are no more than grifters taking advantage of the bewildered. They know their audience, and they know how to play them: "Hey mate! That thing you reckon about foreigners? You're RIGHT! And not only that, here's a bunch of OTHER stuff you didn't even know about! Come on, join us, and you can be right all the time. Don't actually check any of it, you're ok. Have a flag. And also buy our Reform football shirt."

And, to many, that's what the flag is now: it's no more than a sign that reads "I've been had". And Honestly, that's the most heartbreaking thing of all. I have no doubt that the people outside the hotels and on the marches WANT to be patriotic, but the snake-oil salesmen of the age have conned them into thinking that love for one's country and fear of The Others are the same thing. Patriotism at its best should be a mixture of pride, honour and setting an example. There is no pride to be had in baseless fear, there is no honour in duping your fellow countrymen for money and power, and what kind of example do we set to those watching around the world when they see our flag held proudly in one hand, while the other hand hurls a brick at the riot police?

Despite that, "England" and the flag that goes with it remains, somehow, a symbol of good manners, intelligence and acceptance the world over. But every day we drift further from Englishness; not because of any kind of "foreign invasion", but because of who we are allowing ourselves to become as English people. A common talking point of the far right is "I don't recognise my own country anymore". I recognise the country; but I fear I am starting to fail to recognise the English. Because where is the Englishness in baseless hysteria? That wouldn't have won us the war, you know.
I worry for the future but I hope we will be who the world THINKS the English are: Intelligent, witty, compassionate, strong, honourable and polite.

I want my flag back.
I don't want to see the flag waved less, I want to see it MORE. I want to see it waved in opposition to those who would seek to divide us with outright lies. I want the anti-racism and pro-democracy marches to be awash with England flags. I want to reclaim that flag from the anti-immigrant rhetoric and the Farages and Robinsons who would use it to line their pockets. I want that flag to mean something GOOD again.

There are those who seek to sow division with lies and hysteria for money and/or power. Our flag is a key prop for them, and that's ALL it is to them. A prop.
We, England, we are better than that. It's our flag, not theirs.
Boiler, Malcolm Armsteen, zuriblue and 2 others liked this
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By Watchman
#94849
Sorry officer, I didn’t see that child run into the road, as I was distracted by a flag attached to a lamppost/obscuring the light/ covering a road sign etc
User avatar
By Boiler
#94850
Watchman wrote: Sun Aug 24, 2025 10:16 am Sorry officer, I didn’t see that child run into the road, as I was distracted by a flag attached to a lamppost/obscuring the light/ covering a road sign etc
Around East Anglia most road signs are obscured by overgrown vegetation; a victim of council cuts? It certainly makes navigation by maps/signs alone really difficult - not everyone has satnav.
By Oboogie
#94851
Watchman wrote: Sun Aug 24, 2025 10:16 am Sorry officer, I didn’t see that child run into the road, as I was distracted by a flag attached to a lamppost/obscuring the light/ covering a road sign etc
How can you expect anyone to decide if the flag in question is a hazard when you haven't told us which one it is?
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By Watchman
#94862
Good point
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By Boiler
#94869
I've just been watching a video on a car repair channel on YT. One of the comments was:

Screenshot 2025-08-24 at 19-13-30 - YouTube.png
Screenshot 2025-08-24 at 19-13-30 - YouTube.png (19.16 KiB) Viewed 51 times

:roll:
By Bones McCoy
#94875
Boiler wrote: Sun Aug 24, 2025 7:14 pm I've just been watching a video on a car repair channel on YT. One of the comments was:


Screenshot 2025-08-24 at 19-13-30 - YouTube.png


:roll:
They all think they're witty edgelords like Saint Jeremy of Clarkson.

Spoiler:
1. They're not.
2. If one of their mates ends up like Hammond, they'll be forking out a lifetime's compo.
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