Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash says flag displays should not be left tattered and torn

The Union Flag and St George’s Cross belong to all of us and we should be proud to display them.

There were some genuinely impressive displays around Hartlepool when the trend started. People made an effort, and it showed.

But putting a flag up is only half the job. What happens afterwards matters too.

Across our town, we are now seeing the results of flags being put up and forgotten.

Torn fabric. Faded colours. Shredded ends flapping against poles. What began as a display of pride is becoming a display of neglect.

If the flag means as much as people say it does, surely it deserves better than that?

This is precisely why we should fly our flags in places of pride and honour: Outside town halls, at schools, on top of churches.

There is a reason for a proper flagpole and someone responsible for what flies from it.

Tie a flag to a random lamppost, walk away and leave it through wind and rain and who is looking after it?

Who notices when the seams split?

Who takes it down when it is hanging by a thread? The person who put it there should.

And please spare us the suggestion that pointing this out is somehow unpatriotic.

Wanting our national flag treated with respect should be the least controversial thing in the world.

You cannot insist it is a precious symbol of everything this country stands for and then shrug when it ends up in tatters above the pavement.

Respect comes with responsibility.

We had the rush to put flags up. Fair enough.

People had their go and some of the displays looked fantastic.

But the initial enthusiasm has to be followed by the effort of the weeks and months afterwards.

So those who put them up should now take responsibility for getting the tatty ones taken down safely.

Hartlepool deserves streets that look cared for.

Our national colours deserve to be displayed with dignity. Neither is served by leaving strips of neglected fabric hanging over the road.

It is time to wise up and move on from this.

Flags, not rags. If you are proud enough to put one up, be responsible enough to look after it.