Motorist told flag could be racist

[Aptrgangr]

Motorist told flag could be racist

By Charley Morgan



Ben Smith with the St George flag in his car

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."
He said there would be no police log of Mr Smith having been stopped with details of what was said to him, as there was nothing wrong with his car.
He added the officer could have been based anywhere around the county and just made an independent stop.

Motorist Told Flag Could Be Racist (from Wiltshire Times)

[BeornWulfWer]

I would've asked for the £30 fine.

[M.R.]

BWW, you have tattoo of English flag right? Be careful, maybe you'll have to remove it soon.

[Weltschmerz]

Originally Posted by M.R.

BWW, you have tattoo of English flag right? Be careful, maybe you'll have to remove it soon.

What's so funny about that?

[Lutiferre]

This news story disgusts me. The national flag is now a symbol of racism and nothing else. The same thing is happening in Denmark, but I doubt its this far progressed. Most of us still respect Dannebrog.

[Delbáeth]

I remember a case in Scotland, not long ago, of an elderly man, who had a Lion Rampant on a flag pole in his garden. He was payed a little vist from the housing office, or some gov' organistion, and told to remove it because some people had complained and found it "offensive".

What happend? Well!

There was a public out cry, and we got Page 3 girls to demonstrate on the streets of Glasgow .

The flag is back there to this day.

[M.R.]

Originally Posted by Gnist

What's so funny about that?

I was making a joke about this insanity (motorist who had to remove English flag) and how far this can go if pushed to extreme.

[Ferran]

Maybe this is indirectly related to what happened some months ago?

England afraid to fly its own flag - Israel News, Ynet News
Muslim lawyer sues over Inter Milan \'Crusaders\' kit - Times Online
CNN.com - Race fears spark St. George ban - Oct 4, 2005
WorldNetDaily: English flag offensive to Muslims?
AFP: Barcelona shirts appearing cross-less in Saudi Arabia

The partidaries of multiculturalism always enjoy testing the waters and seeing how much influential their lobby is, even if it for the most small thing.

[Errigal]

Originally Posted by Ferran

....

The partidaries of multiculturalism always enjoy testing the waters and seeing how much influential their lobby is, even if it for the most small thing.

In many ways it doesn't matter the reason. It's like an abusive personal relationship in which a person is going to get a beating no matter what he or she does. The goal is just to keep the person confused and scared and totally lacking in confidence. Political correctness is a form of bullying and abuse.

[Kernunnos]

Originally Posted by BeornWulfWer

I would've asked for the £30 fine.

And then, i would write to any independent newspaper.

if negative, any website

[swordjumper]

Is'nt life wonderful here in 'merrie olde England' ? On the news today there was a report from a prison about muslim gangs intimidating their warders. Apparently the warders are uncertain how to deal with these prisoners for fear of offending them !

[Tryggr]

Judging by the way all of society is going, the flag is just an excuse. He's white and native to England. So obviously he's a racist anyway, flag or not. After all, in today's multicultural society you're a racist if you don't have at least 3 ethnicities (one being jew), 2 nationalities and a gay best friend.

[ares]

In simple words, I get enraged upon reading something like that. To my mind, something like this deserves a full scale riot and everything that comes with it. The kind that will go down in history ...

Same as with the rapes in Scandinavia ...

Same as with everything else ...

None of this nonsense would have happened till a century ago.

I would love to be transported back in time to the 16th century for example to anywhere in Europe to see these same nig nogs, moslems and traitors behave the way they do now. They would have adorned many a city gate gibbet and pike ...

[M.R.]

Originally Posted by Tryggr

Judging by the way all of society is going, the flag is just an excuse. He's white and native to England. So obviously he's a racist anyway, flag or not. After all, in today's multicultural society you're a racist if you don't have at least 3 ethnicities (one being jew), 2 nationalities and a gay best friend.

I agree yes, however being white is not really much of importance here. If he was Polish waving Polish flag in England, would anyone care? Obviously not, he would even be encouraged. Also you can only be of one nationality or one ethnicity, having more than 1 ethnic identity is multiculturalist or American (or both) lunacy, completly foreign concept to Europe.

Anyway, it would be interesting if this person wasn't English at all, or at least half-English, I wonder if he would get the fine then. Obviously another example of multiculturalist racism.

[Routasydän]

It would be interesting to know if he had been fined if he had been black, flying the St. George?

[BeornWulfWer]

I do remember a while back during the World Cup, a Pakistani cab driver was told to take down the flag of St.George from his cab.

Something to do with "being unsafe" whilst driving.

In this case, I can't possibly see how that would constitute a safety hazard, so the officer must have thought the cross of St.George=racist/racism.