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Saturday, December 24, 2005

Letter: Northern Echo

FLAG ROW

ROBIN Brooks's letter (HAS, Dec 20) about Wear Valley Council flying the EU flag is bizarre, to say the least.

His criticism of Neil Herron's campaign to have the English flag, the flag of our country, flown over council buildings instead of the EU flag is something one would expect to hear from the Scottish Raj in Westminster.

The EU is not a territorial entity as Mr Brooks contends - it is a political project.

He asks how the political pressure Neil Herron mentions to fly the flag is different to the pressure he and his fellow campaigners have applied to have the flag removed. The political pressure to fly the flag comes from the British Government whereas the pressure not to comes from ordinary people.

Finally, how has the removal of the EU flag in favour of the English flag advanced Wear Valley's drive to become the best district council in England? How can a council that chooses to fly the flag of a corrupt political project based in Belgium instead of the flag of England possibly claim to be English?

To fly the English flag is an expression of patriotism. To remove it and fly the EU flag in its place is a display of treachery. At least we now know the price of Wear Valley's loyalty - two members on the EU Committee of the Regions. -

Stuart Parr, Telford (Euro-region of the West Midlands)