British Expat Newsletter:
2 July 2003

By Kay McMahon, 2 July 2003

Hello again, and welcome to those who have just signed up. Here’s what’s been happening. We were away for most of June so this is our first update for a while.

This week

Readers of a certain age are likely to be aware of the racist chant, “There ain’t no black in the Union Jack”. Well, one man has decided it’s high time that changed. Nigel Turner, who strongly supports the UK’s traditions of cultural diversity and tolerance (he is white himself), has launched a campaign to redesign the Union Flag – by adding a black edge to the St George’s Cross and a thin black saltire upon the St Andrew’s Saltire. (Click on the link below to see how it looks in practice.)
Union Black

The intention of the reFLAG campaign was to reclaim the Union Flag as a symbol of the entire nation, not just of the far right. Unfortunately, not everyone is happy with what they’re suggesting. The Scots appear to be particularly irked by the idea: The Scotsman has already suggested he’s missed the point, and one MSP has criticised the plan as “tokenism”. The Welsh are suggesting that it’s high time Wales was represented on the flag somehow. And others – including UK-born British citizens of Asian origin – have said they themselves wish to keep the Union Flag as it is, as part of the country’s heritage.

What do you think? Is it time for a change? Or should we be proud of the flag as it is?

Till next time…
Happy surfing!

Kay
Editor
British Expat Magazine

Quotation

“There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum.”
– Arthur C. Clarke (1917-)

Joke

A passenger in a taxi tapped the driver on the shoulder to ask him something. The driver screamed, lost control of the cab, nearly hit a bus, drove up over the kerb and stopped just inches from a large plate glass window. For a few moments everything was silent in the cab, then the driver said, “Please, don’t ever do that again. You scared the living daylights out of me.”

The passenger, who was also frightened, apologised and said he didn’t realise that a tap on the shoulder could frighten him so much, to which the driver replied, “I’m sorry, it’s really not your fault at all. Today is my first day driving a cab. I’ve been driving a hearse for the last 25 years.”

(Thanks to Squiffy for contributing this joke. He’s got so many jokes he’s now got his own House of Fun board on our forum.)