What is patriotism?

A trip to Twitter (or whatever it's called now) and a search on the subject of the riots will reveal a lot of posts from people with handles like @englishpatriot1534 (I made this one up). They will have profile of pictures with lions roaring, St Georges flags and all manner of other things that the right perceive as English (oddly no old ladies having cups of tea, Vicars on their bicycles or rained off cricket matches, I wonder why?). It got me wondering, what exactly is a patriot. I've always considered myself a patriot. I'd put my life on the line to defend our country against an attack, as my Dad did when he flew bombers in WW2 to protect us from the Nazis. He drummed it in to me that the most important thing you can do is protect the people you love from aggressors. His generation volunteered in huge numbers to put themselves at risk. When the job was done, the lucky ones came home to their families and rebuilt our country. My had been a prisoner of war and so had seen a repressive regime at first hand. I was surprised when he told me that the German and Romanians he met in the POW camp were decent people, who just happened to be on a different side. It was clear the war was lost in 1944 when he was shot down. They just wanted it to end and the carnage to stop. 

My Dad suffered personal loss as his best mate, his plane's rear gunner Spud Murphy was killed when he was shot down. The Romanian air force buried Spud and the pilot who'd shot them down was there, paying respects. My father appreciated the gesture. The fighter pilot told my Dad that the rear gunners were the bravest of the brave, as they were always the first target. As a child I found it hard to understand, how my Father could admire an enemy who'd killed his best mate. Now I understand completely. It wasn't personal, they were all doing their job. After Spud was buried, my Dad commented at how sad it was that so many allied airmen were in the graveyard. The air force commander who was looking after him, asked if he wanted to see the Romanian Airforce cemetery. It was three times as big. He paid his respects. The Romanian Airforce them gave him dinner and a drink. It was the last decent meal he had until he escaped two months later and made it back to Italy, where his squadron's base was.

In 1978, I bought a Rock Against Racism badge, as the UK music community united in horror when Eric Clapton made racist comments supporting the National Front. When Dad saw it, the subject of the NF came up (The National Front, not Nigel Farage). We had a long chat. Dad expressed his total disdain for organisations that promote disharmony. He had seen the end result first hand. He had even less time for people who affect military symbols but who haven't served in the forces. As he died in 1987, Twitter and Facebook didn't exist. All we saw was pictures on the news. The stories usually started with fattish blokes marching with flags, and ended with shops being looted and cars burning. Dad commented that most rioters did it for a new colour telly rather than any deep rooted political beliefs. These days, it seems that nicking pies from Greggs is the order of the day. 

Dad explained to me that his view is that someone who is a patriot is someone who contributes positively to the country they live in, not for gain, but because they want it to be the best place to live. They have jobs, they work hard, they support local charities, they run local clubs and other organisations. They support the rule of law and respect the outcome of democratic elections, especially when they don't agree with them. As he said, there will always be another election and if your side are saying the right things, they win. 

Which brings us to @englishpatriot1534 and all his mates on Twitter etc. Now we live in a country where freedom of speech is the order of the day. I may not like what he has to say, but so long as he's not inciting anyone to acts of violence, he can say what he likes, have any profile picture he likes and paint his house with any flag he likes. That's his business. When he starts encouraging people to break the law, then it is a different matter. Ass far as a am concerned, the most cowardly thing anyone can do is go with hundreds of your mates and try and burn down hotels, housing defenceless women and children.  That is not brave, it is supremely cowardly. It is not Patriotic. The English believe in fair play and huge baying mobs attacking people unable to defend themselves is the opposite of fair play.

If you want to change the law or the government, you do it the English way. You vote in a new government when you can. As that will be in four years, you use your time campaigning for that. I've stood for the local council several times. Often, I've met people who violently disagreed with me, were of what Sir Keir Starmer calls "Hard Right". I am always polite and reasonable. The conversation is always the same "I don't vote, there is no point". In all the elections I've stood in, there has either been BNP, UKIP or Reform. I ask why they won't vote for them? "There's no point". These people refuse to engage with democracy and then complain that they can't win. On a couple of occasions I've asked why they don't go out and knock on a few doors, the answer "It's pointless". I then point out that I'm a Lib Dem and it's highly unlikely I'll get in but I consider it my patriotic duty to get off my bum and make the case for what I believe in. This usually highly irritates them. It is odd though that people who call themselves English Patriots will not engage with the political system that we developed, which has made the UK a rich nation that people which people want to live in, but will engage in lawless thuggery, which is the antithesis of what our armed forces fought so hard and many gave their lives to oppose. 

The most patriotic thing any Englishman can do is to state their case calmly and rationally and not resort to violence when they don't get their way.