Bad Patriots: John M Parr
Ahh, the letters page: a fertile seam which seldom fails to expose the true heart of the nation.
April 12 is, according to the author of "Happy birthday to our great flag" (Nottingham Evening Post, April 13), the "birthday of our flag, the Union Jack".
It is apparently 400 years old.
Heraldic artefacts are, I think, products of ideology and propaganda rather than the fruits of any given womb, but let's not be picky.
"What better day to remind ourselves," says Mr Parr, "of what the flag symbolises; it is British, and is embraced by all its British subjects."
We might also remind ourselves that Nottingham, in the East Midlands, is Lemmuel Gulliver country, middle England, the heart and home of the Little Englander.
Mr Parr goes on to relate how, watching the Commonwealth Games in Australia recently - presumably on television - he was moved to share the emotions of the British athletes "as they mounted the platform, turned towards the flag, while Land of Hope and Glory was played".
Now, as an Anglo-Irish/Scottish Brit I am probably one of those "British subjects" to whom he refers, although I don't like the term "subject" and am increasingly unsure of what being "British" means.
One thing, however, of which I am sure is that his flag signifies little to me that isn't related to colonialism, bad colour co-ordination or the BNP.
He alludes to his service career in "one of the past far-flung outposts the British army found itself in" and I concede my respect for his views, archaic as they are.
What prompts me to nominate Mr Parr, however, as today's Bad Patriot is his final, telling sentence regarding the piece of cloth in question:
"It is an icon to be treasured, protected and safeguarded from the malign influence of Europe."
Goodbye Mr Parr. May you presently shuffle off this mortal coil with all the dignity you deserve, secure in your ignorance and steadfastly xenophobic.
www.thisisnottingham.co.uk
April 12 is, according to the author of "Happy birthday to our great flag" (Nottingham Evening Post, April 13), the "birthday of our flag, the Union Jack".
It is apparently 400 years old.
Heraldic artefacts are, I think, products of ideology and propaganda rather than the fruits of any given womb, but let's not be picky.
"What better day to remind ourselves," says Mr Parr, "of what the flag symbolises; it is British, and is embraced by all its British subjects."
We might also remind ourselves that Nottingham, in the East Midlands, is Lemmuel Gulliver country, middle England, the heart and home of the Little Englander.
Mr Parr goes on to relate how, watching the Commonwealth Games in Australia recently - presumably on television - he was moved to share the emotions of the British athletes "as they mounted the platform, turned towards the flag, while Land of Hope and Glory was played".
Now, as an Anglo-Irish/Scottish Brit I am probably one of those "British subjects" to whom he refers, although I don't like the term "subject" and am increasingly unsure of what being "British" means.
One thing, however, of which I am sure is that his flag signifies little to me that isn't related to colonialism, bad colour co-ordination or the BNP.
He alludes to his service career in "one of the past far-flung outposts the British army found itself in" and I concede my respect for his views, archaic as they are.
What prompts me to nominate Mr Parr, however, as today's Bad Patriot is his final, telling sentence regarding the piece of cloth in question:
"It is an icon to be treasured, protected and safeguarded from the malign influence of Europe."
Goodbye Mr Parr. May you presently shuffle off this mortal coil with all the dignity you deserve, secure in your ignorance and steadfastly xenophobic.
www.thisisnottingham.co.uk
posted by Don Galloway at 4:29 PM
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