JD Vance tells patriotic Britons to 'push back against crazies' offended by St George's flag

The grassroots movement was further egged on after councils in London and Birmingham pulled the British and English flags from bridges and lampposts - but left Palestinian ones untouched.

The Republican politician has frequently commented on cases of “infringements on free speech” in Britain.

The 41-year-old was asked by Fox News if he had seen how the St George's flag "simultaneously become controversial and patriotic”.

He responded by recounting that a friend of his was fearful of hoisting the American flag amid the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020.

Mr Vance said: “You see the same things happening in Europe, and I think we just have to be on guard against this stuff.

“It’s OK to be proud of your country. It’s, in fact, a good thing to be proud of your country.

“We should push back against the crazies who say we should be so ashamed of our culture and of our heritage that we shouldn’t be willing to fly a flag. It’s craziness.

“We got to call that craziness out. I’d encourage our European friends to follow suit.”

The Vice President issued a stark warning to Foreign Secretary David Lammy earlier this month.

He told Mr Lammy that Britain risked walking down a “very dark path” of “censoring rather than engaging with a diverse array of opinions”

Mr Vance also spoke out against a “backslide in conscience rights” in Britain at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year.

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He said: “A little over two years ago, the British Government charged Adam Smith-Connor, a 51-year-old physiotherapist and an Army veteran, with the heinous crime of standing 50 metres from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes, not obstructing anyone, not interacting with anyone, just silently praying on his own.”

During a meeting between President Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer in the Oval Office, the 41-year-old warned that attacks on free speech not only adversely impacted Britons, but American companies - “and by extension, American citizens”.

After his comments, Sir Keir retorted: “We’ve had free speech for a very long time, it will last a long time, and we are very proud of that.”

The case of Lucy Connolly, the mother jailed for a social media post, was raised with the White House earlier this year.

That came before the release of a report from the Trump administration earlier this month, which said that human rights in Britain had "worsened" in the past 12 months.

The report specifically highlighted threats of antisemitic violence and suppressions on freedom of expression in Britain.

It mentioned that in the wake of the Southport attacks in July 2024, there had been an "especially grievous example of government censorship" and mentioned that "censorship of ordinary Britons was increasingly routine, often targeted at political speech".

The document also noted concerns surrounding "buffer zone laws" which ban Britons from protesting outside abortion centres.

Livia Tossici-Bolt, 64, was convicted in April after holding a sign reading ""Here to talk, if you want" outside a Bournemouth abortion clinic.

The anti-abortion campaigner was handed a two-year conditional discharge and fined £20,000 for breaking a Public Spaces Protection Order.