SENIOR MP David Lammy slapped down Labour colleagues who want to axe the Union Jack from leaflets.
The Shadow Foreign Secretary said Labour proudly flies the national flag and vowed: “We will never stand it down.”
News Group Newspapers ltdDavid Lammy slapped down Labour colleagues who want to axe the Union Jack from leaflets[/caption]
He made the intervention after The Sun on Sunday reported last week that his party was hit by a patriotism row over the symbol.
Some MPs had called for it to be ditched from campaign leaflets.
One unnamed MP claimed the banner was “definitely detrimental” in diverse areas and activists had refused to hand out leaflets.
But Mr Lammy said he is proud to see it on soldiers’ sleeves and on boxes of aid to Gaza and Ukraine.
Writing in The Sun on Sunday he says: “I’ve always felt abandoning the flag to racists was a betrayal of its anti-fascist heritage.
“Which is why those uneasy about the Union Jack on our leaflets have it wrong. It’s everyone’s flag be they black or white, young or old.”
Mr Lammy also writes about racism he faced on the streets of North London growing up where racists would wave the Union Jack.
He said one of his clearest memories was of the time a skinhead threw a bottle at him and his family.
But the Tottenham MP added: “By the time I was a teenager that fear was fading into the past.
“No longer was a black boy like me most likely to see the Union Jack draped on the shoulders of fascists, but on the shoulders of black athletes like Daley Thompson, Linford Christie, Colin Jackson and Tessa Sanderson winning Olympic medals.
“For a sports-addicted black family like mine, the flag’s red, white and blue was a symbol of integration, and hope.”
It was reported last week that one Labour MP had said: “For a lot of communities we’re talking about colours that are associated with the National Front or another far-right group.”
According to another newspaper, objectors asked why material could not be more tailored to specific constituencies.
The criticism was aired at an ethnic minorities Labour MPs’ meeting and at a London MPs’ gathering.
Tory MPs slammed Labour over the claims.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps accused the party of being “ashamed” of the flag and country.
He said: “It shows the true face of Labour hasn’t changed.”
We will fly it proudly
By David Lammy, Shadow Foreign Secretary
GROWING up in North London in the 1980s was scary if you were black or brown.
You only had to turn the wrong corner to find the National Front gangs.
Open racists, they liked nothing better than to harass frizzy-haired young men like me and wave the Union Jack.
One of my clearest memories is the sound of broken glass outside Camden Tube station.
A skinhead threw a bottle at me and my family.
But I know that modern Britain is a story of progress.
Throughout my childhood thousands of anti-fascists mobilised to push those skinheads out of North London.
By the time I was a teenager that fear was fading.
No longer was a black boy like me most likely to see the Union Jack draped on the shoulders of fascists, but on the shoulders of black athletes like Daley Thompson, Linford Christie, Colin Jackson and Tessa Sanderson winning Olympic medals.
For a sports-addicted black family like mine, the flag was a symbol of integration and hope.
My parents were from the Windrush generation.
Growing up in the Caribbean, the Union Jack was the symbol of anti-fascist forces in World War Two.
It was the flag that went to battle against Hitler’s racism.
I’ve always felt abandoning it to racists was a betrayal of its anti-fascist heritage.
Which is why those uneasy about the Union Jack on our leaflets have it wrong.
The flag doesn’t belong to those who once tried to intimidate me.
It’s everyone’s be they black or white.
That’s why my party proudly flies it — and we will never stand it down.
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