Be curious to see what all the people saying we're doing it to take the flag back off the racists think of that
I have flown many flags in my garden for some forty years or more, all different at the moment it's the one from the big bang theory, but I'm in no danger so correct way up. This weekend how ever the union flag will be flown not that I am in anyway a racist or won't to take over the world just a proud human being.
I assume that being a proud human being means exhibiting behaviours that elevate you to the pinnacle of society, such as compassion, kindness, altruism and wanting to create a society in which everyone can live happily with a roof over their head, enough to eat and free of oppression. Not sure why the Union flag represents that though, but if we were going to "take our flag back" I'd like those to be what it represents.
Indeed, not just the symbolic nature of it being a Church but on that estate Rachel spends significant time and efforts supporting the local community with things like food banks, community ‘open house’ for homeless etc etc. Will be interesting to see how the local community respond.
The mini roundabout in our Leicestershire village was painted a few days ago, and there have been some noisy complaints from a few on Facebook about it. Personally, other than the likelihood the council will now spend my money painting over it again, I find it hard to get riled up about it. It's a largely impotent act by people who feel powerless to influence the direction of the country.
If they are patriots, full of love, respect and pride for the country they were born in.... Why the need to cover their faces? Maybe they are shy Muslim women at heart.
If they want to reclaim the flag, then stop doing racist/sexist/homophobic/violent stuff while wearing it. If you want me to support someone wearing a Union Jack, then stop acting like a ****** while you are wearing one. If you see one of your mates doing the Seig Heil in one, kick his head in. If you see people chanting racist abuse while wearing one, shout then down until they slither away like the vermin they are. In the words of the famous Conservative philosopher, Samuel Johnson "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel".
I did see a video of someone filling in pot holes with the St George's flag to see if they get repaired which tickled me. And another post of a untouched mini roundabout saying " even the French are painting flags on now"
It looks like the UK is currently at its highest level of foreign-born population on record. The census in 2021 put it at around 16% of the total population, and more recent estimates suggest it’s closer to 18% now. To give some perspective, that’s almost double what it was in 2004 (around 9%) and a clear rise from 2011 (about 14%). So yes, we’re at a historic high. That in itself isn’t a “good” or “bad” thing – it’s just where we are, and it reflects how globalised and mobile the world has become. People understandably want to talk about the scale of immigration and what it means for public services, culture, and the economy. The problem is that whenever this subject is brought up in the open, it tends to get hijacked by people with an openly racist agenda. They take a legitimate area of debate and twist it into something ugly, as though the numbers themselves prove their point. I think the real challenge is finding a space where these issues can be discussed honestly – recognising that immigration has benefits and pressures – without letting it collapse into fearmongering or scapegoating. It’s a difficult balance, but if we don’t hold that line, the only voices people hear are the loudest extremes.
They have been in decline for close to 15 years. Interestingly the decline started almost exactly 9 months after Cameron and Osborne's austerity measures were introduced
That would be 60 years. Childbirths rates fell from the high of 3 children per woman in the early 1960s to 1.8 by the mid-70s. Its fluctuated around that point for 50 years but rose slightly in the late 70s and late 90s to early 10s under Labour and fell again under the Tories... Educated women with access to birth control have fewer children. This isn't just here, but across the word. Unfortunately, pregnancy is a life-changing medical condition - and life ending in some cases - so women with a choice tend to limit their children.
Birth rates have been falling for decades. Something which has been mostly offset by longer life expectancy.
The specific decline from the early 2010s onwards aligns surprisingly closely with austerity. Coincidence? Who knows. Interesting though.
Even the Welsh are proud to be English England flag appears on Llandudno roundabout as police investigate - BBC News https://share.google/tRxHlBGHnqvNiGzZ6