By Jason Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans are being drawn up for a diverse community event in Southampton to mark this year’s St George’s Day.

 

The city council is working with communities, faith groups and charities to celebrate the St George flag.

Councillors were told event was viewed as a way of “reframing all the challenges” about the flag over the past year.

Tim Nelson, council head of young people’s services and community safety, said there were feelings the standard had become a “symbol of divisiveness” and “potential hatred” across the city and the country.

Mr Nelson said: “In December, we had a roundtable discussion with key members of the Southampton community.

“Generally different faith leaders, people from different community groups and it was recalled that (in a previous year) Southampton hit the national news and it was very much about celebrating St George’s Day from the perspective of the wide and diverse community in Southampton.

“People were saying this year we would like to get back to that position.”

He added: “We have got plans with that group to make St George’s Day this year in April to have that as a diverse community event and actually celebrate the flag because I think one of the things that was coming up in this was that comment about ‘you need to go home’.

“Well actually people are saying it is our home, this is our country, this is our flag and we want to celebrate that as much as anybody else in the community.

“There is a real appetite for St George’s Day this year to be a multi-cultural event and celebration in the city and let’s see if we can get some national communication and headlines again.”

The plans for St George’s Day on Thursday, April 23, were referenced at the overview and scrutiny management committee on Thursday, January 22.

Cllr Toqeer Kataria, cabinet member for communities and leisure (pictured above), said that some people associated the flag with the demonstrations outside the Highfield House Hotel, which is being used to accommodate asylum seekers, and other protests in the city.

Cllr Kataria said: “That is all of our flag.

“That flag belongs to everyone, everyone here.

“It doesn’t belong to one particular group or person.

“It is everyone’s flag and we should all be proud of that, so what are we doing as a council to get that communication out there.

“On St George’s Day, we should be out there with our faith groups, with the leaders and get a comms piece out there that this flag belongs to all of us.”