As the police probe the English flag roundabout, thousands of victims are left out in the cold - Peter Bleksley

I love a flag. I don’t own any, but I’ve a couple of treasured ties, one with a Union Jack pattern, and the other with a cross of St George upon it, and I thoroughly enjoy the mixed reactions that I get when I wear them.

Inevitably, people will say, ‘Love the tie, Mate’, as I pass them on public transport or arrive at a studio, whilst very occasionally somebody will get up and move seat as I sit down in front of them on the train. Suit yourselves, I think to myself.

Perhaps they think the besuited, overweight and ageing man in front of them is suddenly going to break into a football chant. There’s really no helping some people.

The recent resurgence of people who want to display the flags of England and the Union has amused me no end. Watching left-wing commentators working themselves up into a lather over this has had me laughing bellicosely at the television, as they flounder and waffle in an attempt to put forward a cogent argument against the wave of patriotism that has proved to be very profitable for flag manufacturers.

Hey, lefties, it’s just a flag, okay, and I’ve never heard you utter a word of objection to many hundreds of Palestinian flags being waved on the streets of Britain in recent times.

As a former policeman (I’m on a mission to trigger the woke brigade today!), I could not possibly condone or encourage any form of law-breaking, but sometimes, just sometimes, there will be a crime that might just make me chuckle.

For example, an idiot in the US once tried to rob a gun shop armed only with a baseball bat. Not surprisingly, the shop owner was armed with something much more lethal, and the felon was carted off to jail.

I therefore must admit to smiling in recent days, whenever I’ve come across a video of someone painting a red cross on a white mini-roundabout, and I’ve seen quite a few.

I know that strictly speaking it is an offence of criminal damage, but I think there’s something quintessentially British about this peaceful act of rebelliousness.

Imagine having the job of media officer for a local council, when you have you spout, ‘these are not permitted under current regulations and can present safety risks.’ I’ve yet to read a single story of a multi-vehicle pile-up being caused by a painted red cross.

North Wales Police, along with other constabularies, have declared that they are investigating these crimes, which I’m sure will come as little comfort to the thousands of victims of burglary, vehicle theft, phone snatching, assault and more, who will have received an email some 48 hours after reporting their crime informing them that their investigation has been closed. Oh, and here’s a crime reference number for insurance purposes.

It will be very interesting to see what time, effort and resources various police services put into trying to solve these crimes. If they are written off in the blink of an eye, like so many other offences are, then at least they will be acting consistently.

If, however, there is a full investigation involving the debriefing of CCTV, appeals for information, the visiting of scenes in an effort to trace witnesses and possibly more, then we will be able to draw the conclusion that such an investigation is politically motivated and inconsistent with the levels of effort put into solving many other far more impactful crimes. Some might even say that it could be evidence of ‘Two-tier Policing’. I’ve put a note in my diary to send some follow-up emails next week.

If our once hugely-respected police hadn’t been consciously and willingly led in recent times by their liberal, university-indoctrinated leaders towards becoming a social service, that deals with so much more than crime, then they might find that instead of sending their exhausted tail-chasing frontline officers to place sticking plasters on society’s ills, then they would have more time to properly investigate the crimes that befall moderate and mainstream Britons, and consequently they might be a bit more popular than they currently are. I could go on…

In order to ensure that I don’t receive a visit from local officers, I need to reiterate that I do not condone or encourage any crime, but I’ve been having a look around the internet for you, and I’ve discovered that half a litre of red paint, together with a roller and tray, can be bought together from B&Q for less than twenty quid. Other hardware retailers are also available.