Friday Politics: Reform councillor Julian Kirk defends those flying the British flag

In our latest Friday Politics column, Reform councillor Julian Kirk defends those flying the British flag - saying “patriotism is not racism”…

The local government reorganisation (LGR) nightmare continues.

On September 25, I attended the full council meeting in County Hall to discuss the matter.

Many of you may know I resigned from my county council seat back in May as my old Conservative group would not allow a free vote on the LGR proposal sent to us by central government.

My resignation led to an election; I regained my seat for Reform UK. Since May, nothing has changed - the cabinet in County Hall still has the opinion that they know best.

But still, they refuse to listen to the district councils, which believe, as I do, that small and local is superior to large and distant.

I wish to thank the officers and the controlling Independent group at West Norfolk Council for putting a three-tier unitary proposal together with other district councils.

The Government will now make its decision - we may have a single unitary council, or a three-tier unitary, who knows? It is out of our hands.

On another note, patriotism is not racism. As a patriot, I proudly fly the Union flags along with others, including the flags of Ukraine and Israel. I have flown these flags for many years.

During the last few weeks, there has been a surge in flag flying. Unfortunately, agitators from across the political spectrum are jumping on the bandwagon to cause unrest and division in our communities.

While in London, I have had to negotiate streets filled with pro-Gaza groups holding banners and flags, most at eye level and being held by aggressive people.

Yet when patriots with Union and English flags are seen on the streets, they are classed as extreme far right.

I have recently been accused of being a Nazi by some armchair warriors. I say, ‘Look at the flags I am flying and read world history’.

Many other countries proudly fly their flags, and so should we.

Looking forward to October 21, we commemorate Trafalgar Day and the life and death of Norfolk’s famous son Admiral Lord Nelson.

I will be attending the Trafalgar Supper in the historic Lynn Town Hall; this is always a fantastic event.

I wish to thank the civic staff in the town hall for their hard work and dedication to this and other events throughout the year.

Like most councillors, my constituents come first. I attend parish council meetings within my ward each month. I participate in community groups and take part in monthly litter picks. I can be contacted anytime.

Being a councilor is not a nine-to-five job; I would not want it any other way.

In West Norfolk, we now have three other hard-working Reform UK councillors - Jackie Fry in the Fairstead ward, Austen Moore in the North Lynn ward, and Peter Hodson in the Denver ward.

At County Hall, David Bick from the Thetford West division has joined me in putting the interests of our constituents first.