Had to laugh at this pathetic bit of reporting from the BBC on the topic of the National ID card unveiled by Alan “Postie” Johnson today. Buried away in the linked BBC report (scan down to 11th paragraph) is the Home Office line that the absence of the Union Flag from the National ID card has nothing to do with offending Northern Ireland’s nationalist minority community. That’s not what is reported elsewhere….
“A Home Office statement said the ID card scheme must work in a way that “fully
recognises the identity rights of the people of Northern Ireland as laid out in
the Belfast Agreement”. The Government went on to say it had “sought to
design features which can reflect all parts of the United Kingdom, such as the
inclusion of the shamrock to represent Ireland within the tactile feature, and
we have sought to avoid symbols such as flags”.
But “the people of Northern Ireland” are British! So what’s the problem, Postie and why is the BBC not sharing the reason for the lack of our National Flag from the National ID card? The reality is that this government, and the BBC, are ashamed of our British identity and any chance to ditch it is grasped with eagerness.