Viewpoint: Readers share views on St George's flag campaign

No need for Heathrow debate sensationalism

Keith Chapman can rest easy as spelling error James Aiden’s (sic) feathers are far from ruffled (Viewpoint, September 5).

Distinguishing fact from fiction is a pretty painless affair; really, it’s just tedious, but when this country has been embroiled in fiction and fantasy which have led to some disastrous votes in the last 10 years, it’s better to get the truth out than lie in bed dreaming of what has never happened.

Let’s start with a First Officer salary.

Like most professions, the financial rewards vary, but the range is actually £30,000 to £85,000, and a senior F/O on a BA long haul salary tops £100,000.

Keith will be aware that his son will not be such a high earner on Medevac flights because he probably has a less demanding schedule than an airline F/O and it’s more interesting work, and also Medevac flights have a far lower revenue than an A350 on long haul.

Surely the fact that PIA is allowed into UK airspace is indicative of a clean up at the airline, so provided it passes due diligence, why should flights be banned?

On a statistical basis, Boeing has many major and minor incidents, yet Keith doesn’t propose banning all Boeing flights into the UK.

Aviation has always attracted an element of fear because most people do not understand how an aircraft flies and feel they couldn’t do it themselves, but again Keith would be able to reassure them that flying is actually not a difficult thing to do; what is more onerous is building up the experience to make decisions in all situations.

Keith’s opposition to a third runway at LHR is a valid point of view and many will be divided over the benefits versus the downsides.

It’s important though to avoid sensationalist tabloid efforts to try to swing opinion.

JAMES AIDAN

Sutton Road

Cookham

Scale of financial crisis is no laughing matter

Mr Keith Chapman (Viewpoint, September 5) said ‘...Labour politicians.....give us all a good laugh’.

Crying or screaming would be more appropriate.

I always try and relate incomprehensible financial figures to understandable reality and so I did the following calculations to underline the crisis of debt we find ourselves in as a result of previous and current politicians.

There is a UK population of 69million consisting of 28million households.

It is generally agreed that to ‘balance the books’ in the Autumn budget, taxation will need to rise by at least £10billion (JP Morgan), £15-25billion (Capital Economics) or £50billion (NEISR).

Let’s take £25billion as an average.

Assuming this is an ongoing debt, this equates to an annual sum of £362 per PERSON or £893 per HOUSEHOLD.

Another way of looking at this is to take the ongoing requirement for the Government to pay just the interest on our debt (no repayments) of £105billion annually.

This equates to £3,750 pa. for EACH HOUSEHOLD, even after we have ‘balanced the budget’ as described in the previous paragraph.

At a local level we could apply the same reality check to our own Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead where the overall debt has now apparently grown to £230million.

Spread this across 155,000 population and (say) 65,000 families we get a debt of £1,484 per PERSON or £3,500 per FAMILY in RBWM.

Yes, I’m screaming.

ROBIN WILLIAMS

Chiltern Road

Bray

Thank you to everyone who supported show

The committee of the Cox Green Village Show would like to thank all the judges, stewards, helpers, the Cox Green Scouts, stall holders and everyone who came to support this wonderful event last Saturday.

It was a very successful show, with more entries and visitors on the day than previously and it was nice to see the community centre buzzing.

For the first time we had a delightful ballet performance from the toddlers of the Ethereal dance group.

A particular thank you to our MP Joshua Reynolds who presented the prizes and really engaged with the public.

Also a shout out to The Handmade Cake Company for once again donating their delicious cakes, which sold out.

They are such a fantastic local business and support numerous charities and events.

Last but not least, every year a dedicated group of volunteers works incredibly hard behind the scenes to deliver such a quality show but without the public entering the classes, the event couldn’t take place.

So thank you to all the participants, old and new, for taking part and keeping this wonderful community event going and we always welcome newcomers.

There are lots of classes for adults and children, all done in a fun and friendly atmosphere.

We are already looking forward to welcoming everyone to the 2026 show!

SILVIA LITTLE

Heywood Avenue

Cox Green

Touched by the support for multiculturalism gesture

The ‘Tiser printed a report on August 26 about the mini-roundabouts (including Stafferton Way) that have been painted with a St George’s flag at their centre.

It is not a new reflection that a national flag can signal very different messages according to context; who is flying it, and why.

For instance, I love putting on my Lioness costume and getting out my St George’s flag whenever our football teams compete; being with mates in my local pub on such occasions is a real source of fun.

Councillor Geoff Hill told the Advertiser that the council is aware of the sensitivity of the issue particularly in the light of the current mood in the country.

I find this cautious approach to be a wise position.

The council is accordingly reported to be considering when to remove the flags that are on public property, noting that these activities are illegal fly posting.

They can also be a distraction for drivers (although the same can be said of many advertising billboards), noting that in a democracy, people do have an extensive (but not all-embracing) right to have their say.

I am happy to admit that I have now joined the illegal fly posting brigade by festooning the Stafferton Way mini-roundabout pathways with world-wide country flag bunting (pictured), described intriguingly by Amazon as being a suitable decoration for VE Day and National Celebrations.

I am of course happy to accept the legal consequences of this action.

I admit to having had a feeling of some trepidation when I left home with my step-ladder under my arm to ‘fly the flags’.

Although there are fears and concerns that must be taken seriously and addressed, I was very deeply touched by the many passers-by who signalled their thanks and support for my gesture of multiculturalism.

This is the real and best face of Maidenhead. Long may it remain so.

Dr NICOLA STINGELIN-GILES

Swanbrook Court

Maidenhead

P.S. Less than 24 hours later, 80 per cent of the flags of the world bunting has been removed; St George's flags and Union Jacks have been substituted except for one lamp post that remains global.

I am optimistically assuming that this was intentional.

Thus we have a manifestation of pride in England, the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and beyond.

This is about right in reflection of our multicultural history, economic, social and artistic status quo!

Epping protests and immigration policy

I have been wondering recently why only traditional British people are being called racist and not other nationalities – we fly our own flag, we celebrate St George’s Day, we say that we are proud of our traditions.

Other nationalities are proud of their culture and history and rightfully so; so why aren’t British people allowed to be proud?

A good example of this was the recent trouble in Epping where a large group of unknown single male asylum seekers were housed in a local hotel commandeered by the Home Office at vast taxpayers’ expense.

Local people raised strong objections and resentments as being a danger to the public, and one of these males was charged with a sexual offence.

The protesters, mainly local men, mothers and children, were harassed by left wing groups coming from outside the local area calling these local people racists, why?

Apart from anything else, hotels are an important part of local economies.

Members of the public should be free to go in and out, use them for social functions, meetings etc. The use of hotels as hotels has been denied to the public for years and years all over the country.

What the people of this country want more than anything else is to stop immigration, which has been at such a vast scale for so many years, coming into the country in the first place. It is now a national emergency and should be treated as such.

Other European countries are doing this e.g. Denmark and Greece.

Cllr LEO WALTERS

Con, Bray

Flags disrespectful in nation built on diversity

Sadly, Charlie, I don’t think the folks that put up the flags on the lampposts care whether the Union flag is the right way up or not (Viewpoint, August 29).

This is because the flags have not been put up to celebrate things we should be proud of as a country – the Lionesses winning the Euros (again!), the Red Roses’ great start, setting up the NHS or the service of those who have fought for the country (present and past).

Given the identity and views of the key organisers, and the dialogue surrounding the campaign, it is clear that the flags have been raised to promote prejudice and exclusion as national values, and to make people feel unwelcome, uncomfortable or scared. This is a country built on diversity, and the flags are disrespectful to every minority group and immigrant who works hard to keep this country running or who has fought for this country.

These flags on lampposts, motorways and roundabouts should be taken down/repainted.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED