Starmer faces Labour unease over use of Union flag in election campaign

Some MPs and councillors have raised concerns about the impact of the Union flag in some communities.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during the Labour Party local elections campaign launch at the Black Country & Marches Institute of Technology in Dudley
PA Wire
David Hughes30 March 2024
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Labour’s use of the Union flag is “definitely detrimental” in areas with large ethnic minority populations, an MP has warned amid unease about the party’s campaign material.

Under Sir Keir Starmer the flag has played a prominent role in Labour campaign material and appearances by the leader as he stresses the party’s patriotic values.

But a Guardian report said the Labour leader was facing discontent from some of the party’s elected representatives over freepost election leaflets “plastered with Union Jacks”.

Concerns were reportedly raised at recent meetings of the party’s black, Asian and minority ethnic group at Westminster and also by London members of the parliamentary Labour Party.

One MP said: “We are all really proud of our country but this can be a complex issue for some communities and we have to navigate that more carefully.

“For a lot of communities we are talking about colours that are associated with the National Front or another far-right group.”

The MP said using the flag might be “great” to target the “hero voters” the party needs to switch from the Tories, but there should be “segmented branding” with different material used in other areas.

Another MP told the Guardian: “I can see how it would work in some places but it’s definitely detrimental in university towns, and in heavily Bame (black, Asian and minority ethnic) seats.”

Britain’s strength is in its diversity and our communities are hugely proud of our nation and its flag

Abdi Duale, Labour NEC

A councillor on the South Coast told the newspaper: “I’ve seen boxes of the leaflets being piled up because activists don’t want to give them out.”

The Guardian said a video sent out to activists and organisers said the flag “dominates” the party’s election branding, along with “Labour red”.

Abdi Duale, a member of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee said: “Britain’s strength is in its diversity and our communities are hugely proud of our nation and its flag.

“Labour is running a proudly progressive and patriotic campaign that celebrates all our communities and that includes using our flag.”

A Labour spokesman said: “Keir’s changed Labour Party is positive, progressive and patriotic. The Union flag is something we are proud to carry.”

But Labour’s opponents seized on the Guardian’s story.

Conservative Party deputy chairman Jack Lopresti said: “Sir Keir Starmer claims to have changed the Labour Party but no matter how much he wraps himself in the flag, he can’t even stop his candidates from doing Britain down.

“The Conservatives are the party of Great Britain and will never be ashamed of our flag.”

Reform UK’s deputy leader Ben Habib said “this tells you everything you need to know about the hijacking and breaking of our wonderful country” and Labour “should be ashamed of itself”.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in