The England flag is racist, divisive and shouldn’t be flown, according to one in eight Labour voters, a new poll shows. A study carried out on behalf of former Tory treasurer Lord Ashcroft has revealed Labour voters are 13 times as likely as Tory voters to criticise the St George’s Cross as “racist and divisive”.
The poll results, published ahead of St George’s Day on Tuesday (April 23), also shows nearly three quarters of the 5,400 voters who took part in the study believe the cross represents England and no one should take offence from it.
Seventy four percent of voters overall said “no-one should be offended” by a flag that “represents England”, but the figure fell to 56 percent of 2019 Labour voters, compared with 91 percent of Tory supporters.
Only one percent of Tory supporters said the flag was “racist and divisive” and should not be flown, but the figure rose to 13 percent among Labour voters, or one in eight.
The polling results come after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tried to paint the Tories as no longer being a patriotic party.
Sir Keir, writing in The Sunday Telegraph, accused the Conservatives of denigrating some of Britain’s “proudest national institutions” and lacking faith in the strength of British identity to “withstand discussion”. He went on to lay claim to the mantle of “the patriotic party”.
He spoke of his “pride and gratitude” at being English, saying Labour was “at its best when it has celebrated, defended and served the values” of Britain and British people, promising to “always put country above party”.
Asking whether the Conservative Party was “really capable of serving anything other than itself”, he said: “I don’t think so.”
Labour has made a number of efforts to suggest it is a patriotic party, including displaying the Union Jack flag at party conferences.
Lord Ashcroft’s polling also shows support for the Union flag is stronger in England than in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Asked which flag “best represents” them, 44 percent of voters in England identified the Union flag, while 10 percent said the Cross of St George and 29 percent said both.
Only 24 percent of respondents in Wales said the Union flag best represented them, while 46 percent identified the Welsh flag and 23 percent both.
In Scotland, just 17 percent identified with the Union flag alone, compared with 51 percent for the Saltire and 23 percent saying both.
