To avoid offending Poles? Come on. It is clear which immigrant group, and the only immigrant group, that this hyper-PC police officer had in mind.
"Motorist told flag could be racist," by Charley Morgan for This Is Wiltshire, May 23 (thanks to The Omega Man):
A TEENAGE motorist was told to remove an England flag from his car by a police officer because it could be offensive to immigrants.Ben Smith, 18, was driving back home to Ingram Road in Melksham on Thursday evening after filling up with petrol, when the officer stopped him on a routine patrol.
He checked the tax disc and tyres on his Vauxhall Corsa but when he noticed the flag of St George on the parcel shelf he told Mr Smith to take it down.
Mr Smith, who works for G Plan Upholsterers on Hampton Park West, said: "He saw the flag and said it was racist towards immigrants and if I refused to take it down I would get a £30 fine.
"I laughed because I thought he was joking, but then I realised he was serious so I had to take it down straight away. I thought it was silly - it's my country and I want to show my support for my country."
Mr Smith had recently installed new speakers in the parcel shelf of his car and wanted to cover them up so they did not get stolen.
He used the flag and laid it out flat on the shelf so it was not obscuring his view out of the rear window.
But it was only there a couple of days before he was stopped by the officer at about 9.30pm close to Melksham Enterprise Park and made to take it down.
He said he is used to getting stopped by the police because he is a young male driver and is often mistaken for a boy racer'.
But he thought it was "a bit strange" to be asked to take down the England flag when the officer found nothing else wrong with his car.
PC Dave Cooper, of Chippenham Road Policing Unit, said he had never come across an officer asking someone to remove an England flag from their car because it could be racist.
He added: "It all depends on the context of a stop. If they are going past a lot of Polish people, for instance, and abusing them, then we possibly would ask them to take the flag down."...
Okay. That's it! Where can I get a bumper sticker of the St. George's flag? (I'll have to buy it online, as I live in America...)
Un-freaking-believable!
This is the kind of thing to watch for, I suppose. Here, in Central Florida, it's not unusual to see Canadian flags and Union Jacks flown on the same staff with an American flag above them.
I had to go to the This is Wiltshire site, to find out just what the flag of St. George looks like. It's very offensive, for those of you who don't know. It's a red cross on a white field. Period.
The flag of Poland, on the other hand, is two horizontal halves, one white, the other red.
Now, what are Poles going to find objectionable about the St. George's flag? The colors? St. George is a Catholic saint. The majority of the citizens of Poland are Catholic. I wouldn't be surprised if this was true of the Poles residing in England, as well.
Now, if this is the case, why would Poles residing in the UK object to a flag named for a Catholic saint?
Can someone help me, here? I fear I'm losing what's left of my mind!
Disgraceful. When displaying the flag of your country is considered a "racist act", your country is finished.
Too bad the young lad didn't force the issue and make the cop take it to court.
Now, if this is the case, why would Poles residing in the UK object to a flag named for a Catholic saint?
Can someone help me, here? I fear I'm losing what's left of my mind!
The only ones that would be objecting is the Muslims for this red cross was worn by many of our ancestors who had the guts to drive the invading Muslims from their lands. It was worn proudly on the chests of the Crusaders. This is what the spineless British police are worried about.
Lesson #1: Take the fine so the situation gets into the legal records and the media have something more substantial to run with.
Lesson #2: Order lots of St. George flags and test out whether this is an isolated police office or a trend. (get video)
It's obvious that our UK readers need to let their freak flags fly as much as possible. If the state as personified by the police do not like it....
Lesson #3: Always ask to see the warrant card of any police officer who detains you for any reason. Make a note of his identity and his reasons for stopping you. Ask politely "Why are you stopping me?"
Then, when they start lying afterwards (like they are doing now), to pretend you were detained for some other reason, go to the press and name the officer, and quote him.
What about the Mini Cooper? You can buy it with the Flag of England painted on the top. Will you have to rip off the roof?
I'm Catholic and offended by the words of the cop. The Islamic moon and star symbol is offensive to me as well.
To whom do I complain?
I wonder if the officer in question was a muslim which is quite likely in England.
Purchase your flags and bumper stickers here:
http://www.flaghouseonline.com/servlet/the-160/St.-George-Cross-Flag/Detail
Muslims are the only people who find the English flag offensive as it reminds them of the Crusades...a campaign they started anyway.
Was this cop a Muslim I wonder? Whatever he is,in a sane world he would be charged with treason. The driver should take him to court and get the book thrown at him....because I'm sure there's nothing in the book stating that displaying the English flag is racial aggravation.
This cop and his PC, leftie, Islamofascist pals represent the very dragon that was slain by St George. It's back. But where is St George?
Purchase your bumper sticker here:
http://www.stickershoppe.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=i685&Category_Code=st-george&Store_Code=SS
Here's a smaller version of the flag that you can display on your antennae. Make it easier for UK cops to spot:
http://www.flagline.com/id01A3064
Richard Garnache-
"I wonder if the officer in question was a muslim which is quite likely in England."
Would you care to explain your reasoning as to how likely that statement really is?
Our young Mr Smith, as other posters have alluded, should have been well aware of his right to carry the flag in such a manner. Alas, a lot of our youngsters are sometimes naive and easily cowed in the face of authority, not fully realising that the law such authority seeks to implement has been misinterpreted along the way to more likely reflect either the ignorance, or the skewed political view of the authority figure.
"Well then, mate, I'm sorry but you're just going to have to nick me and bloody well prove in a court of law that I'm a racist for having my national flag in the car".... or something along those lines should suffice.
Which is more offensive, the British Flag displayed, or these signs carried in the UK.
You make the call.
http://www.sullivan-county.com/wcva/londonstan.htm
You might use the Swiss flag.
WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
"Was this cop a Muslim I wonder?"
That's what I'd love to know.
I put an English flag sticker on my car bumper in reaction to repeated attempts to sterotype "the English" with the label racist/ignorant/football hooligan. I have been asked whether this sticker is support for the England football team or because I am being racist. My answer was neither: I am displaying the English flag because I am English, however it also gives me great pleasure to annoy the political correctness brigade who insist on Anti English (etc)racism.
Madame Vengier
Unlikely. The police in the UK have been reduced to a state of abject terror in the face of minorities in general but muslims in particular. I have seen them look the other way rather than deal with anything from serious illegal parking to attacks on property.
But to be fair, the work required to prosecute petty crime in any community now is just not worth it for the penalties handed out.
Wow. Here in Virginia people who display the Confederate flag are often accused of racism, but at least the cops don't ticket us when we do it. (Besides which, our side actually lost the War. England, far from being a region that unsuccessfully tried to secede from the Union, more or less created the Union by absorbing Wales, Scotland, and Ireland (though it had to give up the 26 counties thereof). I'm sure it never occurred to the English that by doing so they were forfeiting their right to display the English flag as well as the Union Flag.)
This is bizarre.
If you migrated to a country, traditionally, at least, you intended to identify with it and honour it. Which would mean that, far from being offended by the sight of its flag, you ought to be pleased.
The Union Jack combines two crosses - England's Cross of St George, and Scotland's diagonal cross, the Cross of St Andrew.
Time for motorists all over Britain to sally forth with Union Jack flags or bumper-stickers flanked by, in England, St George's Cross and, in Scotland, St Andrew's Cross.
Welshmen might also add stickers featuring 'the bloodred dragon of Gwent'.
Islam hates ALL symbols of non-Muslim sovereignty and of non-Muslim belief systems. It is offended by EVERYTHING that is other than itself.
So: to get 'in the face' of Islam, ALL Infidels in Britain, whatever their background, if they are engaged in the Counter-Jihad, should be proudly and defiantly displaying, on their persons, their cars, their businesses, their homes, the symbols that celebrate and designate a. their non-Muslim faith (be it Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikh, the Tao...) and/ or b. their sworn loyalty to the non-Muslim sovereignty/ polity of which they are a citizen, and/or c. their alliance with, and support for, other non-Muslim polities which are also threatened by Jihad.
I can imagine a Polish immigrant, aware of the danger from Islam, choosing to display a small crucifix and/or rosary beads or St Christopher medal (to indicate their Catholic faith), and then, in a place of honour on their vehicle, the Union Jack, flanked by the Cross of St George if they reside in England proper, or the St Andrew's Cross, if they reside in Scotland; and then, in a supporting position, so to speak, the Polish flag.
Someone with Greek ancestry might display a little icon, and back up the Cross of St George with the GREEK flag.
Why should not a Hindu Indian, Christian Indian, or Sikh Indian citizen of Britain, proudly display the Union Jack, and/ or the Crosses of St George and St Andrew, together with the Indian flag in supporting position, to symbolise their hopes for a real alliance and mutual support between all Infidels in the face of the Third Jihad?
A British citizen of Chinese ancestry might choose to display the symbols of the Christian faith (if they are Christian) or the symbol of the Tao or of Buddhism, alongside the English Cross of St George and the Union Jack.
For those of West Indian origin: I note that the Jamaican flag features a diagonal cross (rather like Scotland's Cross of St Andrew) and should therefore get 'up the noses' of Muslims quite as effectively as the Cross of St George. Fly both!
Whatever else one chooses to show, it would be a very good idea for all Infidels who oppose Jihad, whether we live in Britain or in other non-Muslim lands, to display the Star of David and/or the Israeli flag, in order to assert support for the tiny nation which for sixty years has been a primary target of Jihad.
Anyway: here, for amusement and inspiration, is a list of non-Muslim countries whose flags can be interpreted as including a Cross of some kind, whether diagonal or upright - Australia, Burundi, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Jamaica , Macedonia, Micronesia (a cross of stars), New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea (southern cross constellation), Samoa (southern cross, again), Solomon Islands (southern cross - stars), Sweden, Switzerland, Tonga, Tuvalu (includes Union Jack).
Some are Commonwealth countries and could therefore rightly and properly be displayed by Brits. Others are members of the EU - why should not one display, next to the Cross of St George, companionably, the flag of a fellow member of the EU?
Watch the 'racist' charge get laughed out of court when someone explains that they chose to display the Fijian, Dominican, Papua-New Guinean or New Zealand flag right next to the Cross of St George, as a sign of Commonwealth solidarity...Or the Greek flag, since they just love Greece so much (and have a short spiel all ready, drawn from Trifkovic, Fregosi, Bat Yeor and Bostom, on the sufferings and heroic resistance of Greek Christians, resisting and eventually prevailing against the Jihad).
What fun if the intrepid counter-jihadist has chosen to display, flanking the Cross of St George, the flags of 1. Israel 2. Thailand 3. Philippines 4. India 5. Ethiopia 6. Russia 7. Spain and 8. the USA and when told 'St George' is 'racist', explains that they are showing all those *other* flags in solidarity with the suffering experienced by those countries as a result of Muslim jihadi attacks against and within them.
Here are just a few recent articles posted at JW/DW warranting such suspicions:
Dhimmi Watch: UK cops to step up recruiting of Muslim police officers
Dhimmi Watch: British Police Forces To Recruit More Muslim Officers
Jihad Watch: UK: Four cops 'working as Al Qaeda Spies'
Jihad Watch: Muslims in police will rise up, Bakri insists
"Muslims are the only people who find the English flag offensive as it reminds them of the Crusades..."
The flag of England in NOT the Union Jack as many non-Brits think; it is the cross of St. George, a red cross on a white background. The Union Jack is the flag of the United Kingdom, which (I believe) combines the flags of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, crosses all, by the way. The flag of England is not exactly the same as the cross the Crusaders wore. Still, if it's close enough to the Crusader's cross to be offensive Muslims, they should have considered that before moving to England. But no, that's not the way anymore...the thing to do is to move to a country whose flag (and culture, and traditions) you find offensive, and THEN agitate to change it.
I shall start sporting the English flag along with the Canadian one; I was born in England, after all. And it coordinates very nicely. If Muslims or others don't like it, they can cram it.
What makes me laugh is that many mini buses and other public transportation here in Indonesia have the St. George's flag with England written across the flag on the back window of their vehicles. The drivers are mostly Muslim and obviously are England football fans. So how is it that Muslims in the world's most populous Muslim nation are not offended by the St. George's cross (except maybe Abu Bakr Ba'asyir and pals)yet police are stopping motorists in England for possibly offending Muslims?
How much you want to bet that the cop was one of those muslims the police have hired in order to foster cultural understanding?
I'm beginning to realize that the British authorities have no interest in muslims understanding British culture; rather, the British authorities want to understand muslim culture.
Why? So they can emulate it?
Wake up, Britain. You're getting precariously close to the edge of the cliff.
Britain ?
Turn them over and stick a fork in their butt.
They're done.
I'll add, though I hate to have to state the obvious in this way, that if an "immigrant" is offended by the sight of the British flag, that is perfectly reasonably ground for revocation of citizenship and deportation.
I TOTALLY agree with joeblough!
Should have told the cop to go piss up a flagpole.
I don't necessarily think this is to do with Muslims in particular.
As I've mentioned several times on JW/DW the police generally act for the state, not for the people. Given that plans are afoot to transfer sovereignty to the EU (hence all the treaties our pathetic "leaders" have signed) any displays of patriotism are to be discouraged. We are expected to pledge allegiance to the EU instead.
Also, the state favours immigrants and ethnic minorities over the indigenous population.
We currently have a big problem with knife crime here in the UK. We all know it is mostly young black men who are responsible but due to the cancer of political correctness journalists are afraid of saying so. For example, this piece on the subject by the right wing columnist Melanie Phillips does not mention the race-knife crime link, although she does refer to black crime in the USA. Wow, bit risky, Melanie!
Last weekend, amongst several violent incidents in the UK, two young men were murdered. The first victim was white. The second was Asian.
Regarding the first murder, almost without exception, press reports do not mention the ethnicity of the man arrested (one or two reports from lesser news sources did mention it, which is how I know). He is black (as is his accomplice who is still at large).
Regarding the second murder, before the facts were known, the press immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was a racist attack by whites:
Not only that, but a young white man tried to help the fatally injured Asian - you won't read that in any report.
By all accounts journalists flocked to Dewsbury, salivating at the prospect of finding out that the attackers were white so that they could trumpet the alleged violently racist nature of the indigenous population.
Why assume that when an Asian man is murdered it's racially motivated (despite not knowing the ethnicity of the attackers), yet when a white man is murdered by a black man no reports make the same assumption? Because it is consistent with the state's campaign to denigrate the indigenous population.
Policeman stopping drivers displaying the national flag are all part of that campaign.
This is like a guest coming into your home and telling you to take down your family photographs, because they are offensive to the guest....
Today my car is sporting the Cross of St. George. As an American, this is a symbol for me of global anti-jihad and of solidarity with the English people. Anyone who asks will get the full story.
heroyalwhyness-
Late getting back to the party as ever. I fear you misunderstand me. The question was not one of suspicion, warranted or otherwise. Rather it was a question of....well.... Likelihood.
It's not in doubt that there are Muslims serving with the constabulary. What is in doubt is the reasoning that suggests a copper is likely to be a Muslim by virtue of being an English copper.
Facts and figures please.
I am going out tomorrow and buying the biggest St. George Cross and putting it in my car.
My country is just so fucked up. Welcome to Labours Britain. Where the muslim vote in key constituencies is so important for the short term career goals of Labour politicians that they will sell us into slavery under the jackboot of Islam.
It's like trying to get rid of Conservatism by promoting Nazism.
Still, the more this sort of thing happens the quicker the British people will come to their senses. The irony is that we are going to become a Nationalist country purely because of the actions of liberals. Still I suppose they asked for it.
I'll add, though I hate to have to state the obvious in this way, that if an "immigrant" is offended by the sight of the British flag, that is perfectly reasonably ground for revocation of citizenship and deportation.
It wasn't the British flag (i.e., the Union Flag, which combined the St. George's, St. Andrew's, and St. Patrick's Crosses) that was regarded as offensive, but the *English* flag (i.e., the one with a red St. George's Cross on a white field).
Seamus:
I hadn't been aware of that. Thanks for the clarification.
That said, I think my point still stands.
If the sight of the English flag is considered offensive by an "immigrant" (and I'm not sure the word invader wouldn't be more appropriate) then revoke the bum's citizenship and kick him the hell out.
I'll add that I think the same applies to being "offended" by the sight of a cross in general -- which, now that you've cleared me up on what that flag looks like, I think is likely to have been the issue here.
If England, or Britain is going to have any chance at all (not something I'm optimistic about) they had better remember that they are a Christian culture with some specific values to uphold and defend ... with pride!
And BTW I'm not Christian. Hell, I'm not even a believer.
But as the man said, if we don't hang together we will surely hang separately.
Seamus:
I hadn't been aware of that. Thanks for the clarification.
That said, I think my point still stands.
If the sight of the English flag is considered offensive by an "immigrant" (and I'm not sure the word invader wouldn't be more appropriate) then revoke the bum's citizenship and kick him the hell out.
I'll add that I think the same applies to being "offended" by the sight of a cross in general -- which, now that you've cleared me up on what that flag looks like, I think is likely to have been the issue here.
And BTW I'm not Christian. Hell, I'm not even a believer.
But as the man said, if we don't hang together we will surely hang separately.
Not quite sure how the double post happend.
For the non-English readers, a bit of background might be in order.
1. In order to fly your national flag (or any other advertising material) in your front garden (other than during temporary events such as a football (soccer) competition), you must have planning permission from the local authority planning department. They can and do order them to be removed without it.
2. Into that vacuum stepped the white supremacist group known as the National Front, for whom the English flag was a constant symbol. When that died the English flag was taken on by the British National Party (BNP) as did the mantle of being the target of choice for multiculturalists, Labour and other Left politicians, and "all right thinking people".
This has been going on for as long as I can remember. Accordingly, it is not surprising that flying the flag of your own country is somewhat suspect in the eyes of many. As others have noted, the police have been very effectively politicised, and cannot be relied upon to know right from wrong in matters of self protection, free speech, or any of the rights granted under the Magna Carta of 1215. The top brass of the police seem to be doing their level best to remove all traces of Sir Robert Peel's Principles of Policing from the land.
If the chap in question had not backed down, it would have resulted in his arrest and conviction. Apart from 2 days of mention in the Daily Mail, it would have been a non-story for the MSM. And he would have his DNA on the National DNA Database until he was 100, whether he had died in the interim or not. His fingerprints would also be recorded for posterity on the Police National Computer.
As someone further up the comments indicated, there is a lot wrong with Britain today. But I would protest that not all the English, or even all the British, should be tarred with the same brush. Just as in the US, there are limits on what small groups of people can do to change the course of big government. Real ID anyone?