Sadiq Khan: Flying the Flag Against Britain

Sadiq Khan (no stranger to these pages), founder of the contentious ULEZ scheme, has once again sparked fury after imposing a rule which bans taxi, Uber and private hire drivers in London from flying England flags, as they may ‘distract’ motorists. Drivers have even been instructed not to have any stickers on the back of their vehicles too. The Transport for London boss stated that flying the St George’s Cross on the back of taxis could cause road accidents, and has warned that drivers in London may incur serious penalties, such as losing their black cab licence, or fines – if they choose to ignore the rule. This ban is not in place anywhere else in the country, and does not apply to private vehicles which, miraculously, do not appear to be causing more accidents than usual.

The St. George’s flag, a red cross on a white background, has been associated with England since 1190 when it was adopted by our ships entering the Mediterranean to benefit from the protection of the Genoese fleet. While other countries proudly display their national flags on both public and private buildings, you hardly ever see the flag of St George flying from property in Britain. Largely, people have been shamed into not flying it and, rather than being taken as a symbol of national pride, flag fliers are likely to be labelled ‘nationalists’, ‘fascists’ or ‘racists’; or snobbishly mocked by the likes of Emily Thornberry and Jess Phillips.

Khan’s ban came into effect during England’s final group stage match in the Euros, which saw The Three Lions qualify for the next round. But, before the tournament began, fans across the country have been (and still are) flying flags on house windows and on cars in support of the team, who are incidentally favourites to win. This move from Khan has instantly caused fury with politicians and fans across the capital: black cab driver Fred Perkins, who is based on a rank in Chelsea, told The Sun: ‘It’s nonsense. It’s all coming down from Khan at the top, because he’s ultimately in charge. Our society has really gone woke when we can’t fly a little flag for England for the Euros.’

Buses and other vehicles on the roads, such as lorries, are still allowed to carry advertisements, and it is hard to avoid the abundance of pride flags and hoardings promoting climate change and woke ideology across the city. Don’t these also cause distraction on the roads? Knowing Khan’s penchant for divisive, anti-white, anti-British sentiment, it’s hard to believe this ban stems from a desire to minimise distractions on the roads, but rather an appeasement of certain minorities for whom the England flag is no symbol of unity. Would the ban have been imposed had the flags been pro-Palestine, or perhaps Ramadan orientated?

Khan did not indicate what whether or not the redesigned flag produced by Nike would be acceptable, nor has he made his position clear about British military personnel wearing the Union Flag on their uniforms. But these are early days in the third Khan administration.

This is not the first time Khan has been accused of using his position to foist virtue-signalling nonsense onto Londoners: take the London Underground, which saw West End theatre advertisements removed for depicting wedding cake – a violation of the Transport for London rules which ‘seek to keep unhealthy foods from being displayed across the network’. He also abolished advertisements for cheese to promote ‘healthy eating’. Not content with telling us what we can and can’t eat, Khan is now dictating what we can and cannot fly on the back of our cars, even if it is the national flag. Surely this is borderline megalomania?

In response to the edict, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage stated on X: ‘Khan really hates England’. Certainly, that seems a reasonable interpretation. Of course, health and safety is an important concept – but one might have thought with London’s knife crime epidemic, that the unity engendered by a little sporting patriotism would be worth the risk. Besides which, people have been flying England flags on their cars for years – what difference does it make now?

Jack Watson has a Substack newsletter called Ten Foot Tigers about being a Hull City fan. You can subscribe here.

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