St George's flag critics branded 'petty' in heated exchange over patriotism: 'This is pathological!'

Hitting back at Dr Jones, Ms Ayton claimed the flag of St George "excludes everyone", unlike the Union Jack.

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The flags of St George were put up in Tower Hamlets as part of the 'Operation Raise the Colours' patriotism campaign, which has sparked nationwide debate.

Debating the display of flags on GB News, Dr Jones stated: "I'm very proud to be British, the Union Jack is an iconic flag. It represents the continuity of the crown, the historic achievements of the British people and the uniting of distinct nations under one banner.

"But let's be clear about one thing, when people raise or wave or don the Union Jack, they're not trying to make an academic point about history. They're expressing pride in their nation, in the homelands their families grew up in, and there's nothing wrong with that."

In disagreement with Dr Jones, Ms Ayton argued that flags being flown to show patriotism for Britain should be "chosen wisely".

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Ms Ayton explained: "I think that every country in the world should have pride, we all need pride. But we should pick our flags wisely. Let's just be clear, the British flag is the Union flag, that's the truth.

"It represents all countries, it represents the Commonwealth, itt represents the British overseas territories, whereas St George's flag does not, it excludes everyone because it only represents England. It doesn't represent Scots, it doesn't represent the Welsh and it doesn't represent Northern Ireland."

Highlighting the demographic of the population of Tower Hamlets, Ms Ayton argued that the council's decision to take down the flags is simply "catering to their constituents".

She stated: "You also have to take into consideration the fact that Tower Hamlets is predominantly Asian, approximately 44 per cent. It is predominantly Bangladeshi and Muslim, 39.9 per cent, so I would argue that the council was merely trying to cater to their constituents."

Defending the patriotism further, Dr Jones hit back and said criticism of the flag is "petty", branding the debate "pathological".

He told GB News: "What's surreal is that we're having this debate at all, in almost any other country it would be considered absurd, even pathological. I think flying the flag is an inherently good thing, and the people who are offended by this are a very small number.

"I have absolutely no problem with English people flying the St George's Cross, I think that's perfectly reasonable. And we can get very petty about this and talk about people getting offended, and you have professional grievance mongers who will try to gin up resentment.

"But at the end of the day, Britain is not just an economic grazing strip, and if more and more people are getting offended by the British flag or the Saint George's Cross, then that actually symbolises a big problem that we have."

In a statement, a spokesman for Tower Hamlets Council said: "While we recognise people wish to express their views, we have a responsibility to monitor and maintain council infrastructure where flags are attached to council owned infrastructure without permission, they may be removed as part of routine maintenance".