Boris Johnson preys on Labour’s self-doubt in flag row

One of the disadvantages of being a progressive in politics is that most societies and indeed most people, regardless of their actual ideology, are innately conservative. 

And since progressives are about transforming society, they must also offer reassurances, about their patriotism for example, which are rarely demanded of the right.

All of which brings us to a trivial and confected row over the union jack. Last week, a BBC presenter gently ribbed a cabinet minister about the size of the flag in his office. It was a moment of levity about ministers’ increasing use of patriotic symbols. But it allowed the Conservatives a new line of attack, that the national broadcaster is run by people who laugh at the flag itself. One MP, James Wild, oafishly berated the BBC’s director-general over the lack of flags in the annual report, while media outriders widened the attack to Labour.

In all this sudden zeal for performative patriotism (which, incidentally, is shared by those waving EU flags and Scottish saltires) there is an element of the fervour of a newly independent nation, which is of course what Tories think the UK is. But they also see this as part of a broader strategy.

To understand this fully, it is necessary to grasp the shock felt by Brexiters at the backlash against their referendum victory and how it has framed their thinking since. Across the establishment, from the courts to parliament, the civil service and sections of the media, they discerned people trying to dilute or cancel their win.

Suddenly, the metropolitan liberal establishment was no longer just a punchline to rouse supporters but a real threat, a sneering enemy of the Brexiters’ idea of democracy. So a government driven by insecurity and contempt found a weapon in the wider cultural fight against a progressive establishment “ashamed of its own country”.

This powers many Tory policies: attacks on the BBC, judicial reform and the dispersal of Whitehall jobs across the UK, a happy side-effect of which is to weaken London’s influence. One Tory strategist warns against overstating Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s appetite for conflict: “There are people who want to push this but so far it’s relatively minor.”

But each new policy is dusted with a patriotic sheen of speaking for the wider nation, and that keeps his opponents on the defensive. The BBC has been scrambling to address his laments of its “instinctive metropolitan bias”.

And like-minded opponents such as Labour’s leader, Sir Keir Starmer, are tarred by association. On a raft of issues, the opposition party’s partial acceptance of the Tory critique is allowing Johnson to set the terms of debate. From Brexit to law and order, Labour is succumbing to a campaign of political gaslighting which leaves it fearful of making a stand lest it be painted as unpatriotic, defeatist or soft on crime. “They want to maintain the Brexit divide which has worked for them,” said one Labour frontbencher.

So the flag row is part of a trap Starmer has no intention of falling into. But when a recent strategy document suggested making more use of the union jack, his members were appalled. One Labour MP denounced the “faux flag-waving brand”. Belittling the flag is clearly a mistake. But the trap is double-edged. Fight back and you can be lumped in with those out-of-touch metropolitans. But succumb and you are accepting the dominance of the government’s narrative and Johnson’s annexation of patriotism. 

The result is that the Conservatives are exploiting Labour’s fear of itself. Even where it does fight back, it is mechanistic and uninspiring. The only place where the Tories face confident opposition is in Scotland. For all Starmer has got right in his leadership, Labour is now second-guessing itself over what policies it can safely oppose.

Though Johnson has a large majority, he can be knocked off course by confident opposition. But, mindful of its lost red-wall voters, Labour fears the government is making the smart political calls. Keen not to be seen siding with disruptive or violent demonstrations, it did not initially oppose new curbs on protests, which it sees as decidedly illiberal. And the more the Tories sense their opponents’ uncertainty, the more these challenges will keep coming, be they tougher asylum laws or moves to limit the scope of judicial reviews. To an opposition in a defensive crouch, each policy looks like a new trap. But each fight ducked is further territory ceded.

Labour cannot surrender the mantle of patriotism but nor can it win by fighting on Johnson’s terms. The answer is not judicious silence or some increasingly absurd flag Olympics. It lies in the Jiu Jitsu of turning Johnson’s strengths into weaknesses and in finding a coherent argument that the Conservatives are failing the flag they are so keen to fly.

One Labour strategist offers a few lines of attack. “How can you respect the flag when you are cutting the numbers of soldiers who defend it?” Another might be to argue that the party so keen to fly the union jack is the one that has most endangered the future of the Union. But this, and similar fights on law and order, must be fought with a conviction in their vision that Labour lacks. 

At the moment, Johnson can see an opposition that is scared of itself and, buoyed by his vaccine success, he is turning the screw. The Conservatives control the political agenda, but increasingly they own the battlefield too. 

robert.shrimsley@ft.com