No Antagonism Please, We're English

"If there is hope, wrote Winston, it lies in the proles" - George Orwell, 1984

In a new low for the nanny state, British police are cautioning English football fans not to be joyously patriotic when they go to Russia for the World Cup matches. St George flags are too ‘imperialistic’ for World Cup, say police:

Police have warned England fans not to display the flag of St George at the World Cup in Russia next month because it risks being seen as “imperialistic” and “antagonistic”.

-- snip --

[Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council] will lead a team of officers to Russia to work with local police and security services to protect up to 10,000 travelling England fans. The supporters traditionally gather in city centres before international tournaments and display hundreds of flags.

Up to 10,000 England fans are expected to travel to Russia next month, along with a small force of UK police to help keep them safe.

The head of football policing Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts argued the St George’s Crosses were seen as the top trophies for rival fans and ultras, as well as appearing to link them to the history of the British Empire.

“I think people need to be really careful with flags. It can come across as almost imperialistic … and can cause antagonism,” he told The Times.

“We really urge some caution about people putting flags out and waving them about in public, there is a bit of risk when people draw attention to themselves and people need to be aware of that.

A bit of risk is just the kind of thing the English people used to like, at least it was back before the age of mollycoddling began. Football fans, being lower-class types who still feel surges of national pride and Anglo-Saxon rowdyism, might be the last holdouts against the suffocating nannyism of today.

If an English football fan can't get piss drunk, rip off his shirt, and wave his St. George flag at those Russian wankers, why even bother to go to the game?

Say, doesn't the Russian Federation once more use the old Imperial double eagle coats of arms, and doesn't that coat of arms include an image of St. George slaying a dragon? So, then, why wouldn't flag-waiving England fans be warmly welcomed by the Russians in a fraternal western civilization sort of way? Maybe Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts is worried over nothing.