Richard Bacon sparks fury by claiming if you fly a Union Jack flag ‘you’d prefer Britain was whiter’

Former BBC presenter Richard Bacon criticized Britons who fly Union Jack flags in the streets – suggesting that those who do so “would prefer Britain to be whiter”.

Bacon, who was previously a Blue Peter presenter and later a BBC Radio 5 Live presenter, spoke following comments from ‘champagne socialist’ football commentator Gary Neville.

There was controversy following Neville’s comments attacking ‘angry middle-aged men’ who placed Union flags in the streets while revealing he had torn one down.

Neville this monthnth filmed and shared online a complaint about Brits pinning St George and Union Jack flags to lampposts as part of the recent campaign known as ‘Operation Raise The Colours’.

Opposition to the display of Union Jack flags has now been reinforced by broadcaster Bacon, 49, speaking on BBC2’s Newsnight.

Bacon, who moved to the US in 2016, agreed with the use of the Union Jack flag design in the 1990s – including when then Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, now Geri Horner, wore a dress patterned with it at the Brits.

But it contrasted with the recent move to fly Union Jack and St George flags on British streets, with some local authorities sparking fresh criticism by taking them down in response.

Bacon told Newsnight: “There are times when it’s nice and celebratory when Geri Halliwell wore Union Jack trousers in the late 90s – that was really fun and fun.

‘Right now, if you put a lamppost and a Union Jack in front of your house tomorrow, I think you’re making a statement.

‘I think that statement is that you would probably prefer Britain to be whiter.’

He was met with anger in response, with offended posters objecting to any suggestion of racism.

Bacon doubled down on his stance, sharing with his 1.1 million X followers a clip from the Newsnight broadcast and adding the comment: “I agree with me.”

His appearance on Newsnight came alongside former Brexit Party MEP Alex Phillips, who challenged Bacon’s position.

She said: ‘Context has been curated and invented by politicians – that’s the problem.

“This myth that the flag is somehow racist, this whole idea that nationalism is somehow toxic, has been imposed on society and doesn’t sit well with ordinary people.

‘I don’t think it’s ethnic or nationalistic, I don’t think skin color has anything to do with it.

‘I think it’s nationalist? Yes. I think being proud of your nation and identifying with it is a negative thing? No.’

Bacon responded by saying: ‘I don’t think so either. I’m not saying it’s always like that – I’m just saying that at certain times, when the subject is very hot, in that context, I think you could be making a statement.’

The Daily Mail has approached Bacon’s representatives for further comment.

There was a flood of responses online to his comments.

One poster responded: ‘For flying the country’s flag? I mean, I’m Welsh and Irish, so I despise that flag, but surely people should be able to fly it as patriots and not racists.

Another said: ‘Well, the British people certainly DO NOT agree with you’, while they were also asked: ‘Eh? What kind of logic is this? I have a Union Jack on my desk because it is my national flag.’

A separate commenter on X, formerly Twitter, said: “When people start to feel embarrassed by their own country’s flag, it’s a sign that those trying to undermine national pride are having an impact.

‘Fortunately, many of us still feel proud to drive it. My wife, who is of Indian descent but was born in Manchester, wants us to install ours.

Another response said: ‘Anyone who flies the Union flag does so because they are proud to be British. Don’t you understand the difference between nationality and ethnicity?’

The furore follows Neville directing his ire at flag-wavers 24 hours after two Jewish worshipers were killed on Yom Kippur in a Manchester synagogue.

In his video, which he posted to LinkedIn on Friday last week, Neville said: “As I drove home last night, I kept thinking we were all turned on by each other.

“And the division that’s being created is absolutely disgusting — created mostly by angry, middle-aged white men who know exactly what they’re doing.”

League Two Salford City co-owner, who has built a vast property empire in Manchester since retiring from football, has told how he “instantly” removed a Union Jack flag that was flying near one of his construction sites.

His comments came in the wake of the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation tragedy, where Syrian-born terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie launched a deadly knife and car attack.

Neville began his video by saying: ‘Seeing last night’s news and this morning’s news dominated by the horrific attacks within the Jewish community, just a mile away.’

He then turned his attention to flag-raising – a movement called ‘Operation Raise the Colours’.

The ‘Operation Raise The Colours’ movement was co-founded by Andrew Currien, also known as Andy Saxon.

Saxon, who claims links to the English Defense League and Britain First, is an ally of Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

The campaign also accepted a donation of flags from Britain First, which has denied repeated accusations of being a fascist and far-right organization.

Neville continued: ‘When I was driving into Salford City last night, coming down Littleton Road, I saw probably 50 or 60 Union Jack flags.

“And on the way back I took the parallel road, Bury New Road, which has the Jewish community right at its heart and they are in the streets, defiant, not hiding or afraid.

‘Interestingly enough, on one of my development sites last week there was a Union Jack flag flying and I took it down instantly.’

Critics of his latest flag comments have included reformist UK MP Lee Anderson, who labeled Neville ‘completely out of touch’.

The former Labor councilor and former Conservative MP added: “I believe in freedom of speech, but on this occasion keep quiet.”

He told the former footballer: ‘You had no problem playing in front of the English flag – and the middle-aged Englishmen you speak of are the same sort of men who paid your wages.’

Nick Buckley, an award-winning charity boss who was sacked for criticizing Black Lives Matter, wrote on X: ‘Gary is an idiot. A campaign [sic] socialist who through indoctrination appears to hate his country and its citizens.’

And Reform UK’s Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, nicknamed Neville ‘Gary Lineker Mark Two’ – a tribute to the former England captain and former Match Of The Day presenter, who also faced a backlash from the right for his political interventions.

But Neville was supported by a Government minister, with Faith and Communities Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh attacking people who were “trying to stoke tension”.

She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘I think he’s really right, that there are people who are trying to divide us at the moment.

‘We’ve seen this manual before. Life is really hard for people in our communities. I spent a lot of time moving around our communities, talking to people – people are oppressed.

“We have had a decade and a half where living standards have not changed and people have seen their communities subjugated – and we will have people trying to fuel division, trying to blame others, trying to fuel tension.”

And Neville, who won 85 caps for the Three Lions, including a few caps as captain, responded to taunts about being unpatriotic, saying: ‘I played for my country 85 times, I love my country.

‘I love Manchester and I love England, but I’ve been building in this city for 15 to 20 years and no one has put up a Union Jack flag in the last 15 to 20 years, so why do you have to put one up now?

“Clearly it’s sending a message to everyone that there’s something you don’t like.

‘The Union Jack flag being used in a negative way is not right and I am a proud supporter of England, of Great Britain, of our country, and I will defend it anywhere in the world as one of the best places to live.

“But I think we need to get a grip, get back to a neutral point, because we’re being pulled left and right and we don’t need to be, at all.”