‘We’re taught to be ashamed!’ Ann Widdecombe urges Britain to follow in US footsteps and end ‘profusion of LGBT and BLM flags’
Reform UK spokeswoman Ann Widdecombe has called for government buildings to fly only national flags and those of visiting nations, echoing recent policy changes in the United States.
Speaking on GB News, the former Conservative minister said: “I think that the only flags that should be thrown from a government building are, first of all, the national flag from our case, Union Jack in Wales, or the Welsh flag, and the flag of any country that is making a state visit.”
She argued this approach would avoid controversy and special treatment whilst preventing any confusion from a “profusion of flags.”
Widdecombe’s comments follow President Donald Trump’s recent directive through the State Department that only the American flag should be flown at U.S. facilities worldwide.
The order, implemented this week, explicitly prohibits the display of Pride and Black Lives Matter flags at diplomatic buildings.
“The flag of the United States of America united all Americans under the universal principles of justice, liberty, and democracy,” states the order, as reported by the Washington Free Beacon.
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The directive allows for limited exceptions, permitting only the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag and the Wrongful Detainees flag to be displayed alongside the Stars and Stripes.
Addressing specific concerns, Widdecombe highlighted potential contradictions in current flag policies.
“Particularly with the Black Lives Matter you have the issue that they’re in favour of defunding the police, which seems a very odd thing to fly over the Home Office,” she told GB News.
She emphasised that a national-flags-only policy would eliminate potential disputes.
“You can avoid all these controversies, you can avoid all the conscientious objections if the only thing you have is the national flag and that of any visiting country,” she said.
The stance aligns with growing debate over flag displays at government buildings on both sides of the Atlantic.
Widdecombe went on to criticise what she sees as a lack of patriotic education in Britain.
“First of all we’re taught to be ashamed of our country. Children are taught the worst possible aspects of colonialism in schools, virtually no addressing of the good aspects at all,” she said.
The Reform UK spokeswoman called for immediate changes to education policy if her party gained power.
“I’m not suggesting that you teach [children] the country is always right and has never been wrong,” she explained. “I’ve advocated teaching them how to think and to get them thinking, they need balance.”
She argued Britain needs to project a more confident image to attract international investment.