'More performative, virtue signalling tripe'
To mark St George’s day, Reform has said that if they win the next election, they would require all schools to fly the Union flag and display a picture of the King.
In addition, the party wants to change the curriculum to “rekindle national pride” and make 60% of history lessons focused on British history.
Reform would want to focus on events such as the signing of the Magna Carta, the Wars of the Roses, the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, the Act of Union, the Enlightenment, and Victorian Britain.
Many of these events are already covered under the current history curriculum.
Reform’s focus on ‘patriotic’ British events neglects other aspects of the country’s past, such as Britain having played a leading role in the slave trade, as well as controlling 25% of the world’s land at the height of the British Empire due to colonisation.
Meanwhile, outlets such as GB News and TalkTV are regularly producing content claiming that schoolchildren are “being taught to hate Britain” by teaching them about slavery and the Empire.
In a post on X, Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice MP called the move “common sense patriotism”.
Online, people challenged Tice’s “patriotism” after an investigation revealed that he had failed to pay a £91,000 tax bill.
One X user wrote: “Pay your taxes instead- that would be true patriotism.”
Another said: “Here we go again. More performative, virtue signalling tripe.”
Another X user remarked: “Nothing says fix education like forcing kids to stare at a flag and a portrait instead of tackling crumbling schools, underpaid teachers, and outdated curriculums.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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