The decisions to change the colours of the Union Jack flag has sparked controversy
Former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton has said trying to change the Union Jack is ‘an attack on the way we look on our country.’
Speaking on GB News, Peter Shilton said: “I'm a traditionalist. I played for England for 20 years at football and playing for your flag is everything. And I think in this day and age it's not just a few colours, it's the way life's going.
“I think there's a lot of people who want to change this country and the way it is, and I think that changing a national flag is one of those things.
“I certainly feel that [the UK] it's a fantastic country, it's very diverse, but there are still people who want to change our history and want to change what our country represents.
“I do think that people in this country; genuine British people, I think they're very proud of the traditions and our flag and everything else. But I do think there's an element of trying to undermine the way our country is and I just feel that they're looking for anything.
“They're desecrating statues and pulling down statues. There's a lot of stuff going on, and I think this is a small part of it, but it is a start of trying to change our national flag, which I think a majority of people in this country, would just say, No, no way. We've had it for hundreds of years and this is our flag.
“I don't know what the players are thinking; they just want to go out and represent the country and the other side of it is normally left to the officials.
“But I think at the end of the day, it is down to the officials. I mean, obviously players can say, ‘look, I'm not happy with wearing that shirt.’
“Look at the Germans, they just changed it straight away when they thought they had a problem. I don't know how many flags around the world are getting changed?
“We are so tolerant with everything, with freedom of speech, and the values that our country been brought up on and I think we’ve got to feel well pleased about that: our values are fantastic.
“But sometimes we maybe let things go a bit too far and there is an element, I think, in the country that want to try and degrade our values, really.
“I don't know why that is, but maybe it's political. I'm not sure.”
“[The flag] means history, doesn't it? You go back over the years, we fought wars under the Union Jack and people died for our country. And we had that pride in Union Jack and as a player, it was unbelievable.
“It's the highest honour to represent a country and, and the flag was part of that - the Union Jack.
“To start to start sort of trying to change it now, I just think it's an attack on the way we look at our country.”
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