Councillor Matt Blair (FB post): “Apparently I’m a “traitor” now. This came as something of a surprise. Fun fact: some people join the Armed Forces because they believe in protecting their country and its values. I used to get paid to skirmish with the Taliban in Afghanistan. These days I apparently betray my country by challenging far-right conspiracy rhetoric on Facebook (for considerably less pay, I might add) Courage. Discipline. Respect for Others. Integrity. Loyalty. Selfless Commitment. #CDRILS. Those values didn’t stop mattering when I took the uniform off. And that’s the thing about the flag. The flag itself isn’t the important bit. It’s what it represents. You can wrap yourself in one, stick one on every lamppost and shout about patriotism until you’re blue in the face. The harder bit is actually living by the values you claim it represents. In the British Army, we expect high standards from our leadership. If the people at the top were filling their pockets, sipping champagne and slurping oysters while everyone else was out doing the hard graft, I can assure you the lads and lasses wouldn’t respond by blaming the bloke next to them. That’s the bit I don’t understand about this version of patriotism. When things get hard, the anger always seems to travel downwards. Being angry about the state of the country is perfectly legitimate, understandable frankly. But strength isn’t finding someone with less power than you to blame for it. Look up. Expect better from the people with power. That feels considerably more patriotic to me.” 🇬🇧