Britain is caught in a furious debate today after an army veteran won his appeal to display the Union Flag on his taxi after Shropshire Council banned it last year.
Basil Brockhurst, from Market Drayton, served in the armed forces from 1975 to 2014, but when he tried to display the Union Flag on the bonnet of his taxi, Shropshire Council forced him to remove it.
Speaking to GB News, Basil said: On 17th October they sent me an email saying I had to remove the cross of St George and the Union Flag from my vehicle.
“Obviously I was not happy, I was quite perturbed. 30 years’ service for Queen and country in Northern Ireland and Iraq and suddenly I’m told I cannot display the cross of St George and the Union Jack.”
The ban on flags was found in the updated ‘Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles licensing policy’ agreed to by Shropshire Council in April 2023.
It states there cannot be an advertisement which “depicts any political, racial, cultural, sexual or potentially offensive language, symbols, flags or emblems.”
GB News presenter Bev Turner defended Basil today calling for Britain to unite behind it's country.
Speaking on the channel, she said: "We're living in a country with enormous diversity, every single nation under the sun now lives here. Fine. Great.
"To not be divided constantly, we need to unite over something. How about uniting under being British and having the privilege of living in this country."