To be ashamed of being British?

" Why fly the Union Flag in Italy? Most rude "

Why was it rude?

Why fly it?

Annie a lot of bars around Garda and other tourist spots fly lots of flags, to make tourists from different countries feel welcome there.

A way of attracting them in, if we want to be cynical.?

Plenty of bars have a display of flags from around the world, or banknotes, or beermats, Annie. Surely you've come across them? The Union flag was on display alongside all the others.

Not really Anniebach I have been in bars in Spain, Cyprus etc. where they love to fly the flags of other nations, usually to do with football rivalry but always very good humoured.

ooops sorry Maggie crossed posts.

It is just not true * POGGS* that the racism and bigotry was there "on both sides of the argument"

It is not true that all leavers are racists but it is true that all, or very nearly all, of the racists voted to leave the EU. Other leave voters, who chose to vote that way for other reasons, do not like to admit that.

Could we leave the Referendum out of at least one thread please.......?

I second that request Maw ?

This thread is about the Panorama programme which revealed a marked rise in racism and bigotry as a result of the referendum. If you want to leave out the referendum you are missing the point of the discussion- or perhaps proving the point that leavers prefer not to acknowledge.

There are plenty of threads on other subjects.

Maw is not a Leaver.

Yes I second that MawBroon, the old adage "not all leavers are racists but all racists voted to leave" has been rolled out so many times now it's become a hackneyed cliche. The EU as it is at present encompasses many racist extreme right wing parties the like of which are reminiscent of the 1930s at it's very worst. I can't help thinking if it hadn't become the unwieldy federal union it is today that this resurrgence of nationalism wouldn't have happened.

Cindersdad as I have a family friend struggling with alcohol ADDICTION/ILLNESS I found it un pleasant to read your post stating that you feel that people that take drugs are to be ashamed of

What they need is help ..

So can someone tell me the reason why there has been such a rise in racially motivated hate crime; as someone said recently, brexit isn't the elephant in the room, it IS the room....isn't it sweeping it under the carpet if we pretend that there are other reasons for it?

Denial

TeganI am not a political person but I do feel that Trump has drummed up a lot of hatred

We must remember though that there is often racial hatred/intolerance on both sides.

Will we ever learn that not everyone wants to intergrate , we hear - immigrants must learn to adapt to the British way of life. As if all British do in Spain, Turkey etc . My sister in law built a house in turkey, was interviewed by the Sunday Times , why did you not build in the British sector? She replied - because I wanted to live in Turkey .

No Varian this thread purports to be about attitudes and poses the question “(Are you I assume) ashamed of being British” which is what I was answering.
The yeas and nays of Remainers and Brexiteers have nothing to do with misplaced or well-placed pride in one’s nationality as I assume that all those who voted were if the same UK nationality.

I also think pace Serkeen that Donald Trump is not really part of this equation.

Who knows what 'being British' means any more?

I took this literally - in possession of UK nationality either by birth or naturalisation

When you belong to a family, tribe or nation, and that is a part of your identity, you will feel proud if your fellow family members or fellow countrymen do something good.

When they do something you consider to be bad, you are likely to feel let down, or even ashamed.

In the last two years so much in the UK has changed for the worse, and to many the future looks bleak. No wonder some feel ashamed to be British.

I'm not ashamed to be British, either, and I really loathe the term 'Little Englander'. The sort of people who use it, and like to sneer at their compatriots, would not usually dream of sneering at any other nationality showing any shred of patriotism, be they French, Spanish, Welsh, whatever. It often stems IMO from a feeling of guilt/shame about our imperial history, but other European nationalities had empires, too, and don't feel they have to beat themselves up forever about them.
Denigrating one's own country is a peculiarly English thing IMO. And anyone who's been around the world at all, or just around Europe, will be aware that racism occurs all over, and is frequently more generalised than it is here. Just for starters I know someone married to a black African woman who used to live and work in Spain - he said the racism suffered by his wife there was far worse than anything she's ever met in the UK. The French are not exactly renowned for their natural love of diversity, either. Of course it's wrong and nasty wherever and whenever it occurs but anyone who who thinks it's particularly bad in the UK is just naive.