KEIR Starmer has said he hangs the English flag in his home and "always sits in front of a Union Jack".
He said he was “very encouraging” of people putting up national flags, but warned against devaluing and belittling them.
Asked whether people putting up the Union and St George’s Cross flags in the wake of asylum hotel protests could be considered racist, Starmer told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I am supporter of flags.”
He added: “I am the leader of the Labour Party who put the Union Jack on our Labour Party membership cards. I always sit in front of the Union Jack. I’ve been doing it for years, and it attracted a lot of comment when I started doing it.”
The Prime Minister also said his family has “got St George’s flag in our flat” in Downing Street.
He went on: “I’m very encouraging of flags. I think they’re patriotic and I think they’re a great symbol of our nation.
“I don’t think they should be devalued and belittled. I think sometimes when they’re used purely for divisive purposes, actually it devalues the flag.
“I don’t want to see that. I’m proud of our flag.”
Starmer's official spokesman said Starmer got the England flag at the Euros last summer.
They said: "He has pride in the flag, he thinks it is important that we do have pride in our flag, it represents our history and our heritage and our values . That is why he has an England flag in his flat."
It comes after Starmer said last month that patriotism "will always be an important thing" after St George’s Cross flags were removed from council properties by two local authorities.
Campaigners have been putting up flags on lampposts following an online movement called “Operation Raise the Colours”.
Flags have been taken down in Tower Hamlets in east London as well as Birmingham.
Asked what the Prime Minister’s view is on the councils that removed the flags, his official spokesman said: “I think the PM has always talked about his pride of being British, the patriotism he feels.
"I think he’s talked about that previously […] not least recently in relation to the Lionesses’ successful campaign in the Euros. Patriotism will always be an important thing to him.”
Asked if he is supportive of people who put up English flags, the spokesman said: “Absolutely, patriotism, putting up English flags.
“We put up English flags all around Downing Street every time the English football team – women’s and men’s – are out trying to win games for us.”
Starmer said he “completely” gets people’s concerns about migration, and insisted he wanted to speed up efforts to empty asylum hotels before the next election.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live’s Matt Chorley, the Prime Minister said: “Let me first acknowledge it’s a really serious issue.
"We have to have control of our borders, and I completely get it, and I’m determined that whether it’s people crossing in the first place, whether it’s people in asylum hotels, or whether it’s returning people, we absolutely have to deal with this.
"When it comes to the asylum hotels, I want them emptied. I’ve been really clear about that. I completely understand why people are so concerned about it.”
