I haven't followed this very closely, but the way I heard it was that the issue was not that the guy was flying a St George X, but was something to do with the politician's comment about it.
The weirdest (or possibly saddest) thing about it is that, as far as I could tell, she didn't actually
make a 'comment' on it. She just posted the photo, said 'This is Rochester' and left it, but the implication was crystal-clear.
My understanding is that unfortunately the English flag has been used by many extreme groups to symbolize exclusion and hatred of other groups
It's easy to blame the extremists for tainting the flag by association, but they didn't do it alone. The other half of the equation had to be ordinary, reasonable English people just giving up and developing some kind of bone-deep cringe about
any sense or expression
English cultural pride, in favour of being 'British.'
Which would be fair enough-- people can choose to identify themselves however they like, and if they'd rather be British than English, good for them. But the problem is that what they've actually done is to turn 'British' into 'English-for-people-who-wouldn't-be caught-dead-near-a-maypole.' British IS English, not just for foreigners, who could be forgiven for thinking nothing exists outside of London, but for 'Brits' who never consider, for even a moment, that their
English culture and experiences are only
one part of what 'British' is supposed to mean. They get anywhere from mildly puzzled to rabidly offended if a Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish person says that s/he doesn't feel 'British,' and can't understand what they're so worked up about (they obviously just hate the English).
I'm sure it's not done on purpose. But there's an incredible arrogance in it-- the arrogance of unexamined, unnoticed privilege-- that gets really old, really quickly, to everyone else. So, I think everyone would be a lot happier, and the country would run a lot more smoothly, if people in England made a decision to 're-claim' Englishness from wing-nuts, instead of making 'British,'
de facto 'English.'
