REGULATION OF THE WHEELCLAMPING INDUSTRY (Hansard, 24 July 1996)

§ Mr. Michael Fabricant (Mid-Staffordshire)
I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to facilitate and promote the flying of the Union Flag; to enable Government construction projects to be identified with the Union Flag; and to promote the union of the United Kingdom. Sunday was a gorgeous day, and I sat in my garden in Lichfield reading The Sunday Times, as my favourite newspapers The Guardian and The Times were not available that day. I started looking through the newspaper's magazine, where I saw an interesting piece called "Britain's feel-bad factor".
The article stated that The Sunday Times had commissioned an NOP poll for the magazine, which showed that people are either unaware of, or unwilling to believe in, Britain's achievements. The article stated: Measured in terms of gross domestic product, Britain vies for fifth place … in the world rankings. But most people think that Britain's economy is far less important … Only 22 per cent. correctly plumped for the fifth biggest. The article continued: Only 27 per cent. think Britain has a lower unemployment rate than Germany, France and Sweden … But unemployment in Britain is only 7.7 per cent. of the workforce, compared with 9 per cent. in Germany, 9.3 per cent. in Sweden and 12.3 per cent. in France. On taxes, the article stated: 46 per cent. think they are higher in Britain than in other industrial countries … Overall, taxes in Britain are 38 per cent. of GDP, compared with an average of 45 per cent. in the EU. Only in two areas was there a little optimism.
By more than two to one … people believe British television to be the best in the world. Given the choice between identically priced British, German and Japanese goods, 72 per cent. said they would choose the domestic product. The article, written by David Smith—

§ Mr. George Foulkes (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley)
On a point of order, Madam Speaker. Much against my better judgment, I have been listening to the hon. Member for Mid-Staffordshire (Mr. Fabricant), and not once has he mentioned the subject of his Bill— the Union flag. All he has said is totally irrelevant to the Bill that he is purporting to introduce.

§ Madam Speaker
The hon. Member's introduction has been quite long, but he may now be coming to the flag. Is that right?

§ Mr. Fabricant
Precisely

§ Madam Speaker
I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is wearing the right colours today.

§ Mr. Fabricant
The point is that the final sentence of the article states: Underneath that inferiority complex, there may just be a sense of national pride waiting to burst out. Madam Speaker, that is the whole point of my Bill.
361 Thanks to Gordon on the Opposition Front Bench, we have become a nation of gloom— new Labour, new glums. I want to bring a little colour back to the United Kingdom. I want to fly the red, white and blue. About 3 million Britons go to America every year, and they see the stars and stripes flying in petrol station forecourts, outside people's homes, outside schools and on public buildings. But we do not see our flag flying here.
Why is that? First, it is due to planning permission, and my Bill will seek to change planning permission measures. To fly a flag, one needs a flagpole, and— astonishingly enough— one needs planning permission for that. My Bill will seek to ensure that— providing it is to fly the British flag— planning permission will not be necessary for a flagpole.
Secondly, during my researches, I found that, amazingly, Government buildings are allowed to fly the flag on only 20 days in a year, and on extra special days as specified by the Queen through the Lord Chamberlain. My Bill would allow— nay, would encourage— Government buildings to fly it 365 days a year. I would like it to be flown in schools, outside petrol forecourts, in people's front gardens and in offices. We should be proud of the Union.
I have had letters of encouragement from people from all parts of the country. Mr. Egerton, of Dinas Powys in the Vale of Glamorgan, wrote: I fly the union flag (a small one) on the apex of my greenhouse— and regularly receive appreciative remarks. Roger Percival, of the Pheasant hotel in Kelling, Norfolk, writes: I urged the British Tourist Authority/English Tourist Board to encourage all members to fly the Union Flag. Christopher Buswell of Alton in Hampshire says: Could not the British be encouraged to erect flagpoles at their homes and fly the Union flag thus instilling a sense of national pride in their country once again? Mrs. Woolley, of Cardiff, South Glamorgan, writes: I have just returned from a holiday in the West and to see the flags of Canada and America so proudly displayed in almost every garden and on public buildings made me ashamed for the way in which we are fettered by planning restrictions and days for flying the flag. I could go on— [Interruption.]— and I will, as Opposition Members implore me to. Mr. Edward Johnson, from Falmouth in Cornwall, writes: I personally feel that the history of our flag and its presence, should be compulsory at every school in Britain. We have every right to be proud of the flag. I would also like Government construction projects to fly the British flag, just as European Union projects in the United Kingdom show the European flag.
This Bill is not only about patriotism; it is about taking the flag away from the National Front and the fascists, who more or less possessed it in the 1960s and 1970s. The Bill gives the flag back to the people. The greatest threat it faces comes not from anyone who might be unpatriotic enough to oppose it today, but from a Labour Government.
Madam Speaker, I can see you asking me why that should be so. It is Labour policy to promote devolution. Devolution would light the long fuse that would 362 inevitably lead to the break-up of the UK. That would be damaging, because, great as England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are, they are made all the greater because we are one nation— the United Kingdom. That would be threatened by a Labour Government.
A Labour Government would give up all our powers of veto in Europe. The Union flag would become the white flag of surrender. For that reason, the Bill not only promotes a flag to be flown from a flagpole, but is a reminder to everyone that the Conservative party and the Government stand for the great union that is the Union of the United Kingdom.
The greatest son of Lichfield is Samuel Johnson, who said: Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. At the risk of deselection, I shall disagree with him and say that there is nothing wrong with patriotism, which is devotion to one's country. Nationalism may be different. The Union Rag Bill promotes the Union and the flying of the flag. I hope that all patriots in the Chamber today will support it

§ Mr. Tony Banks (Newham, North-West)
I do not support the Bill, but I like the hon. Member for Mid-Staffordshire (Mr. Fabricant)— how could anyone dislike him? It is not the Labour party that is a threat to the hon. Gentleman's Bill, if he gets permission for it, but time and sanity. I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on becoming a Parliamentary Private Secretary, which is a humble but worthy job. It is the first greasy mark on the political pole, and we would all agree that few have greased more assiduously, or carried a ministerial lunch box with more colour and verve, than the hon. Member for Mid-Staffordshire.
There is a certain guile about the hon. Gentleman that neutralises his propensity to kiss the bottom of any passing figure of authority. He is visibly bursting with pride at becoming a ministerial gofer, which makes me rather sad. I do not see a Minister manque sitting opposite but a poor, wretched youth congratulating himself on getting the last cabin boy's job on the Titanic.
For all the qualities of the hon. Member for Mid-Staffordshire— and we all like him— his proposal is silly, as one would expect from its originator. It is silly in concept and timing. After all, the hon. Gentleman only has the overspill of a few days in October to present his Bill, if he gets permission. The chances of the Bill ever getting to the statute book are about as good as my chances of entering the kingdom of heaven.

§ Mr. Foulkes
Or the shadow Cabinet.

§ Mr. Banks
Yes, or the shadow Cabinet— which I have been assured by the Leader of the Opposition is one and the same place. If it is the same place, I have a good idea what God looks like.
The suggestion to fly more flags comes straight out of Evelyn Waugh, and so does the hon. Member for Mid-Staffordshire. Wrapping the Union flag around bankrupt policies or unfavourable Government opinion polls is typical of the Conservative party. It does that all the time, to cover its bankruptcy. Every time Opposition Members criticise the Government about their economic 363 performance, or whatever, they say that we are being unpatriotic and talking Britain down. The Government are running Britain down, when all we are doing is telling the truth.
The hon. Member for Mid-Staffordshire mentioned the great Samuel Johnson. Apart from Lichfield, I can think of one other similarity between Dr. Johnson and the hon. Gentleman, but kindness prevents me from saying precisely what it is.
Waving more flags is a pathetic response, but one expects that from a pathetic Government. It is obscene to use the flag as a way of suggesting that criticism of a policy or Government is tantamount to treason, and divides the country rather than unites it. The hon. Member said that the Union flag should be flown over Government construction projects. I would like him to name a few. There are plenty of flags flying over British manufacturing industry. Unfortunately, they tend to be the national flags of Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Germany.
The hon. Gentleman is also using his Bill as a way of getting at devolution. There is much talk in the House about subsidiarity. Devolution is subsidiarity— national subsidiarity. A flag should be a symbol of national unity, not used to paper over injustices and divisions that should be addressed. I often visit the United States, and it is true that one sees that country's flag everywhere. America is more united in that respect, because so many powers have been devolved to individual states, which also have their own flags.
The hon. Gentleman's Bill is a silly proposal, but at least Mr. Simon Hoggart now has some more cheap copy for tomorrow, in his love-hate relationship with the hon. Member for Mid-Staffordshire.