I love the flag ... so I hate to see it used to intimidate the neighbours

WE NEED CONTEXT Music veteran & campaigner Billy on stage

- BY BILLY BRAGG

WHEN the Lionesses returned home with the Euro trophy, they were greeted by jubilant fans waving St George's and Union flags in celebration.

And this week, a group called the Wythall Flaggers have put both symbols back in the limelight, in a campaign they claim promotes patriotism.

They are asking for every street in their Worcestershire village to be covered in flags.

The group raised around £3,500 towards costs through GoFundMe but insisted: "This is NOT racist, never has been, never will be. We have members of all ethnicities and religions stopping by and praising what we are doing."

English and British flags have also been held aloft by protesters at migrant hotels.

Now, in an interview on LBC radio, singer and anti-racism campaigner Billy Bragg gave presenter Nick Abbott his take on it all while questioning the Wythall Flaggers' motivation...

I love our flag, I'm a patriot. But I don't want my flag being used to intimidate my neighbours. I really object to that.

Say they [the Wythall Flaggers] put up a community Facebook page and said, 'We want to do a St George's Day event. Everybody's welcome, come on down. You know, we're going to celebrate the fact that St George was born in Lebanon. He came here. Now it's part of our story, that kind of thing. You can see the context with that.