Are we, to echo Keir Starmer’s now infamous phrase, “an island of strangers”? No. But there is a deep cultural divide in this country, a cultural dissonance we don’t discuss but should. Witness the row about the Wythall Flaggers, the group that has erected numerous St George’s flags in the Worcestershire village to parade its patriotism. What does it mean? Is it laudable patriotism or a nod to the hard-right, anti-migrant politics that is fast becoming mainstream? Is it inclusive or exclusive? “We have members of the community of all ethnicities and religions stopping by and praising what we are doing so please don’t call this racist,” say the organisers.
Maybe that is so, but certainly different people will look at those flags and take different meanings from them, feel different emotions. That’s pretty much our island story now. We are the same, but we’re different.
