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Originally Posted by nffc
I was referring to them using it as an excuse to ban OUR flag.
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Right. So do we agree that everyone should be allowed to fly any flag, nobody should be allowed to fly any flag, or that only the Union flag, or those of the home nations, should be allowed?
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Originally Posted by nffc
slightly different. Look in places like Oldham, Burnley, etc, some parts they've even reflected the ethnic mix by having signs in Urdu. In some parts of England you can't fly the St Georges flag without being told to take it down because it's either "racist" or "inciting racial hatred". I'm not against people flying flags, it's slightly different to alienating the "natives" by demanding their lifestyle, laws, customs are changed. Slightly different to wearing a football shirt, kilt or waving a flag.
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Agreed it's slightly different, but it's not completely different. You appear to be suggesting that some flags are acceptable and others are not, on the basis that certain flags imply that the person waving it has failed to integrate sufficiently into a British way of life.
It's not completely different because Britain itself is a largely artificial construct. Though there is more that unites us than divides us, there are significant cultural (and increasingly political) differences between the home nations. I could be accused of 'failing to integrate' by persisting in being overtly English even though I live in Scotland. Similarly ex-pats living in France have been in the headlines lately for upsetting the locals (setting up English-speaking shops, going round each other's houses for parties, refusing to learn French). They are in France, but still in Europe, which is another artificial construct but nevertheless one that ties the two countries together. How far does this confer a right on those ex-pats to decline to integrate?
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Originally Posted by nffc
Done what, integrated or sponged? Immigrants from Eastern europe 1940s-50s worked hard for the country, as did later immigrants from the Commonwealth eg Asia, Africa, Caribbean. Same can be said for the Turkish "Gastarbeiters" who helped rebuild Germany after WWII.
Immigration is not a problem, it's the people that abuse the immigration and benefit system I have a problem with.
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Both. You seemed to be implying that you thought a great number of immigrants have failed to integrate and contribute. If that's not what you meant then it's just me misunderstanding you (sorry!).
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Originally Posted by nffc
I'm not anti-immigration and I'm not racist. I just think people should be fair and treat others as equals with the right to their opinion.
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I agree. Which is why I think muslims should be allowed to fly any flag they choose during their religious celebration, and that anyone else should be allowed to fly the flag of their choice whenever the fancy takes them. Banning flags as described in the news article will achieve nothing.