A LibDem Perspective: Of flags and banners
A LibDem Perspective: Of flags and banners
I am not a natural flag-waver, but I’ve been dismayed in recent weeks to witness the increasing attempts mainly by far-right activists to weaponise our national flags. Every politician I know whatever their party is patriotic and wants the best for our country. As the Brexit debate showed we may differ very widely over just how we achieve ‘the best’. Many economists now acknowledge that our hard exit from the EU has proved very damaging to our economy just as predicted by ‘Remainers’. But while I would not question the patriotism of the flag waving Brexiters who were misled into inflicting such damage on our country, I do object most strongly to their attempts to take sole ownership of our flags. Liberal Democrats seldom use our national flags in our logos or leaflets. As the accompanying photo shows, it is easy enough to wave the flag. It is rather more challenging to live up to the democratic values it represents ....
…. which brings me to my main subject, banners and the right to protest. The right to peaceful protest is a fundamental tenet of our democracy. The arrest of well over 500 people, including many elderly former professionals, peacefully protesting and holding banners calling out the likely war crimes being committed by the Israeli government is an affront to our democracy. It is also an affront to all those who abhor the potential genocide being committed against Palestinians. The declaration that Palestine Action is a terror group, and the Home Secretary’s opaque references to dark deeds about which we are ignorant smacks of desperate attempts at justifying their heavy-handed approach. Surely if there is merit in such claims, we deserve to know so that we can decide whether we still wish to join the protests? Without such clarification the government’s outlawing of Palestine Action might appear to be little more than retribution for its own embarrassment at the ease with which the group invaded a supposedly secure air base. The intruders sprayed pink paint, not bullets. They damaged property, not people. A century ago, suffragette hero Emmeline Pankhurst said “There is something that Governments care far more about than human life and that is the security of property”. No doubt Yvette Cooper would agree with those who repeatedly locked her up for damaging property to advance her objectives.
No-one would condone what Hamas did, but the retribution being meted out upon the whole Palestinian nation (as we should now define it) is entirely inexcusable. LibDem leader Sir Ed Davey has called out the US President for his failure to act to rein in the murderous Israeli regime. While our own government’s stance would be unlikely to carry any influence, we should still be doing all we can to stop this catastrophe. Meanwhile our overloaded justice system can expect to see many more concerned banner-waving pensioners threatened with criminal records while war criminals remain free.
Cllr Kathryn Field