Northern Ireland

Ben Gummer Excerpts

Tuesday 11th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Villiers]

I very much welcome the hon. Gentleman’s forthright condemnation of what has gone on. Clearly, he has a special perspective on this, having himself been a victim of such terrible threats in the past. It is a fundamental part of our democracy that people have the right to protest peacefully. That cannot, of course, justify the terrible scenes that we have seen on our television screens over the past week.

[Ben Gummer (Ipswich) (Con)]

Everyone in the House will have seen how communities across the United Kingdom have fought hard over the past few years to reclaim the Union flag as an identity for everyone who lives in this country—something that we saw so splendidly this summer in the jubilee and the Olympics. Is my right hon. Friend not frustrated that in this year when the flag really did become a symbol for everyone who lives in this country, no matter from what background they come, it is being so abused at present?

[Mrs Villiers]

It is a concern that we see our Union flag being abused. Like my hon. Friend, I shared the joy that I think everyone felt with fantastically successful events this year, such as the Queen’s jubilee and the Olympics, where the Union flag played such a wonderful central role and such a positive one. That is another reason why those who persist in that course of conduct should stop immediately and confine their activities to peaceful participation in the democratic process, rather than seeking to hold people to ransom by rioting and threatening them.