Baroness Jacqueline Foster has launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Keir Starmer, labelling his St George's Day comments as "blatant hypocrisy".
Speaking on GB News, the Baroness questioned why Starmer linked the Southport incident to the English flag during his St George's Day address.
The comment comes after Starmer's call to "reclaim" the English flag from rioters following last summer's Southport tragedy.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer made his controversial remarks during a St George's Day reception at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday evening.
Baroness Jacqueline Foster hit out at the Prime Minister
GB NEWS
Baroness Jacqueline Foster said on GB News: "It's blatant hypocrisy. I'm not saying that everyone in the Labour Party or on the left is unpatriotic. I'm not saying that at all.
"But when you listen to some of the things that have been said, and the way the public are treated the reference he even made to Southport I mean, why, on St George’s Day, is he bringing up Southport and what happened there?
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"As though those people and many of them were just genuinely very upset should be lumped in with a small proportion who behaved very badly indeed.
"Why link that to the English flag? That’s absolutely appalling.
"Or the far-right. what, we’re all far-right now, are we?
"So I’m afraid, you know, they’ve made a rod for their own back. Because it’s they, in the Labour Party, who have spent years vilifying anyone who had the audacity to fly this flag in the first place."
The Prime Minister told attendees there is "a never-ending fight for our flag and what it represents".
He specifically referenced last summer's riots that followed the Southport stabbings, which were fuelled by online misinformation.
He urged the public to "reclaim" the English flag, insisting: "It belongs to all of us."
During his Downing Street speech, Starmer recounted his visit to Southport following the tragic incident last year.
Keir Starmer urged the public to "reclaim" the English flag
PA
"The day after the terrible Southport incident last year, I went up to take the opportunity to shake the hands of the first respondents of police and ambulance workers," he said.
"By the time I got back to London that very day, we had people throwing bricks at the very same police officers I was shaking hands with."
The Prime Minister added: "That's why the battle for our flag is really important because that is what happened and that was only last year."
He praised the community clean-up efforts following the riots as demonstrating "the best of the country".
