Flying the flag? I’d rather a focus on delivery

It’s been a big first week for the new prime minister, both on the global stage at the Nato summit and at home in lightning visits to the UK’s devolved nations. 

Next week, just two weeks after the general election, the UK will host as many as fifty European leaders at Blenheim Palace for the fourth summit of the European Political Community. 

These are great early opportunities for the Keir Starmer to build – and in some cases, rebuild – trusted relationships at a personal and diplomatic level, and fly the flag for the UK. 

One of the divisive things I hope will fade from the last fourteen years, however, is domestic flag waving. As someone brought up in the south of England in the eighties, for me the Union Jack had always had an uncomfortable association with the National Front and the BNP.

However recently I began to see more and more Union flags behind government ministers and spokespeople. And the more I saw them, the more I became distracted by them as I thought about the union of the flags.

Why isn’t Wales represented as part of the Union Jack? Why is the Scottish saltire a different shade of blue?  And who chose the red saltire of St Patrick to represent Northern Ireland? But most of all, why was the George Cross positioned on top, dominating the others? 

When historian David Olusoga explained the origin of the Union Jack and the alternative designs that were proposed, and then rejected, in his recent documentary, I became even more fascinated about decisions made centuries ago and the message the flag sends to people across the UK today.

The flag waving often made me think of the poem Not waving but drowning by Stevie Smith. When the economy plummeted and inflation rose, sadly, many were drowning in financial worries. And many still are.

Our own David Hume Institute research, notably the quarterly Understanding Scotland Economy Tracker, shows the high proportion of people losing sleep over their finances in Scotland and little expectation of this improving in the near future.

With global conflicts and disasters a-plenty, on top of challenging domestic economics, public debate has seemed to be dominated by things to distract people rather than to increase understanding.  

So how do we move forward?

Carefully.  

Some voters have grown accustomed to being told they can have it all. There will need to be a reality check. For example, the conversations on tax have been a bit like a child in a sweetie shop being told they can eat as much as they like and there will be no consequences – no sugar-induced tantrum, no rotten teeth, no weight gain and no sickness from overeating.

Starmer seems like a careful man. Hopefully he can be the grown-up that the UK needs to restore its damaged reputation globally. But divisions on the domestic front feel deep.

So, my plea to Keir Starmer and his new cabinet and ministers is this: if you want to unite the UK, please can we have less flag waving and more focus on the things that make a difference to people’s lives.

Delivery, not performance politics, is what matters now – as I think our new prime minister has said…

Susan Murray is director of the David Hume Institute.