Broadcaster Mike Parry has admitted he has "given up" on celebrating St George's Day, as he claims those who do are "singled out" and branded a "freak" for being patriotic.
Thousands are taking to the streets today in celebration of the English holiday, marking the patron saint.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has called for the nation to "reclaim the flag" in his message to the nation: "What we must do for our country, for English decency, honour and fairness.
"Wrench it out of the hands of those who want to divide this nation and reclaim it for good."
Mike Parry has claimed he 'doesn't celebrate' St George's Day anymore
GB News / Getty
Discussing St George's Day on GB News, broadcaster Mike Parry he no longer celebrates St George's Day through fear of being branded an "extremist".
Parry explained: "I'm the most patriotic man you'll come across, I'm very English, my father fought in the war for six years from the age of 17. But I've given up trying to celebrate St George's Day because you are singled out as a bit of a freak.
"If I walked around today with a Union Jack waistcoat on or something like that, I would be regarded as odd or a saddo or an extremist, and so I don't, because I don't feel I have to climb onto the rooftops and shout 'I'm English'."
As host Bev Turner questioned why that has become the attitude of many Britons today, Parry claimed that he experienced it "as a kid".
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Britons in Gravesham celebrated St George's Day with a parade through the town
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Parry recalled: "One of the first jobs I ever did at the Chester Chronicle, on this day, my first year in journalism, I go out onto the streets of Chester, and ask people if they know what day it is - it was April the 23rd.
"I took a photographer with me, and not one single person out of six in Chester, a great Roman city with great heritage, knew it was St George's Day."
Echoing the remarks of Parry, host Andrew Pierce highlighted that the English "don't celebrate St George's Day like the Irish celebrate St Patrick's Day".
Hailing his local Scouts group and their efforts to mark the occasion, commentator Stephen Pound told GB News: "Come to Ealing next Sunday and you will see the Greenford and District Scouts and the Ealing and Hanwell Scouts having a massive St George's Day parade, as we do every single year.
Parry told GB News that people who are patriotic are seen as 'extremist'
GB News
"Virtually every Scout group I know in this country will celebrate St George's Day. And normally we have a couple of beavers dressed up as dragons running around the place, it's a really great occasion and it's a patriotic occasion."
The Prime Minister kicked off St George's Day celebrations last night, praising contemporary and classical cultural English icons at a special reception, hailing national cuisines such as Melton Mowbray pork pies and Lancashire Eccles cakes.
Nottingham has the largest St George's flag in the heart of the city, alongside a celebration hosted by the Royal Society of St George Radford Branch event at Nottinghamshire’s oldest pub, the Ye Olde Salutation Inn.
However, despite some celebrations taking place today, the Church of England has put back this year's feast day to Monday, April 28, due to a ruling that no saint's day can take place between Palm Sunday and the Second Sunday of Easter inclusive.
