When I was a little girl, I joined the Brownies, and I then went onto the Girl Guides. Whilst this was great fun, learning to put up tents, toast marshmallows, and singing campfire songs, it was where I also learnt my patriotism and pride in my country, our (then) Queen and the flag.
I have carried these values with me since that time and have always noted when travelling abroad the spread of national and regional flags on public and community buildings. This summer I watched a flag raising ceremony in a small town abroad to mark the beginning of the working day, with everyone in the area stopping what they were doing and placing a hand on their chest.
I like to see this replicated in the UK, and I backed Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s campaign to raise the George Cross on public buildings and I welcomed the permanent raising of the Union Jack on our local council buildings over ten years ago.
My love of the NHS is aligned to my patriotism, free at the point of use no matter who you are, or your background, and my greatest desire is that the ten-year plan for NHS sees it transformed so that it is fit for the future and the pride we have for it is restored.
My respect for those who serve our country, whether it’s in the armed forces, the police, the fire service or our thousands of volunteers and their patriotism should be applauded and they are integral to my pride in our country.
There are other ways where community values are intertwined with patriotism, our enjoyment of where we live and how we can contribute to make things better. Whilst nowhere is perfect, I want to see our towns tidy and litter free and this weekend I joined others litter picking in Worksop town centre. This is a form of patriotism – taking pride in our local area.
The flying of the flag in our towns and communities is a welcome symbol of our patriotism and I welcome the recent growth of them across the area. However, what I find uncomfortable and cannot condone is the vandalism and the defacing of public property with dripping red painted crosses on road signs, roundabouts and zebra crossings. These will only be tidied up at the expense of us taxpayers and until that happens they will serve as a constant reminder of misplaced patriotism.