The Fair Flags campaign, calls on supermarkets and other retailers to recognise and treat fairly all the constituent countries of the United Kingdom.
Jan
29
There’s a new supermarket chain coming to the highstreet – ASCO.
Despite the fact it is selling predominately English produce from as far as I can tell exclusively English shops, straight away they’ve gone for the establishment line of promoting it’s British credentials.
Oct
20
Well done Waitrose…
Filed Under Waitrose | Leave a Comment
From an article in the Grocer.
He added: “If the nation embraces the product and shows their support for English fruit farmers, then we’ll consider launching a series of English conserves in the near future.”
The 454g jars, available in Waitrose now, have labels inspired by the St George’s Cross to flag up their “100% English” credentials.
I for one will be making a special trip to embrace this product!
Oct
12
Another very interesting article over at Why England Needs a Parliament.
Oct
12
An interesting article on Wales Online trumpeting Tesco’s commitment to offering local produce (are they an advertiser by any chance?)
Here’s an extract with a highlight added:
With interest in “buying local” growing stronger, Tesco is to make it even easier for customers to identify the provenance of their food with new packaging covering produce, meat, dairy, chilled, frozen and bakery items.
It will include the flag of the country of origin and in many cases the name of the county. With some produce and dairy items there will also be information on the grower and producer.
Tesco also works with local suppliers at major food events across the UK and the teams are looking for even more producers, especially in English regions that may lack the strong national identity found in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Fascinating stuff. What flag for the “English regions” eh? Please read the whole article and feel free to leave a comment.
And should you feel inclined to remind Tesco that people in England also have a strong national identity, here’s how.
Sep
14
English apples and Pears; British flag
Filed Under Products | 8 Comments
http://www.englishapplesandpears.co.uk/
Date: 7 September 2009 18:23
From: <***@***.uk>
To: abarlow@clara.co.uk
CC: <***@***.uk >
Subject: English apples and pears
Dear Sirs,
I would just like to point out that your logo has the Union flag within
the outline of the English the fruit you promote.
The correct flag for English produce and England is the Cross of St
George.
Yours faithfully.
–
Date: 14 September 2009 09:48
From: Adrian Barlow <abarlow@clara.co.uk>
To: ***@***.uk
Subject: Re: English apples and pears
Dear
Thank you for your note. England is part of the Union. We wish to be as
inclusive as possible and therefore we are pleased to use the Union Jack
which has wide consumer recognition. Thank you for writing to me.
Regards
Adrian Barlow
—– Original Message —–
From: <***@***.uk >
To: <abarlow@clara.co.uk>
Cc: <***@***.uk >
Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2009 5:48 PM (My note My original email was sent 07.09.09)
Subject: Re: English apples and pears
Sep
8
More from the CEP on ASDA
Filed Under ASDA | Leave a Comment
More sterling work from the Campaign for an English Parliament – just about the only organisation in the country that speaks for England.
Please read the full article and the previous one on the subject.
Aug
31
Scottish Lincolnshire sausages?
Filed Under ASDA | Leave a Comment
No protected status for Lincolnshire sausages it seems. From the Campaign for an English Parliament.
I saw an advert on TV for Asda the other day advertising sausages.
The images of the packaging in the top left of the screen showed Scottish and British sausages (including Scottish Lincolnshire sausages – isn’t Lincolnshire in England?).
I’ve emailed Asda asking if they could please explain where the “British” sausages are from and why they are labelled as British sausages whilst Scottish sausages are labelled as Scottish.
We already know the answer, of course, but you might like to do the same by contacting them through their website.
Has anyone else seen this ad?
Aug
11
A reply (of sorts) from the NFU
Filed Under NFU | 3 Comments
A couple of months ago I submitted the following email to the National* Farmers Union after amonth went by with no response I re-submitted it, then re-submitted it again a couple of weeks later. Obviously the NFU did not want to answer my questions.
* national in this instance refers to England & Wales. Scotland have their own farmers union the NFU Scotland.
Dear NFU
I’m not a member but I am deeply concerned about an issue that affects your members.
Firstly there is the unfair way that goods produced in England are presented in the supermarkets.
Scottish produced goods are nearly all shown with the Saltire on the packaging but English produced goods are packaged with the Union Flag rather than the Cross of St George. As both nations are still part of the “United Kingdom” I find it baffling that this is the case.
The Campaign for an English Parliament have done some research and they think they have uncovered the reason why.
http://www.thecep.org.uk/wordpress/2008/06/20/from-the-horses-mouth/
At the same time it’s just been announced that eight supermarkets have signed up to a special deal to promote Scottish goods.
http://news.scotsman.com/politics/Eight-supermarkets-sign-up-to.5405151.jp#4167625
Whist this may be good for Scottish farmers it’s not going to be good for your members the English and Welsh farming community.
Does the NFU have a view on these matters?
With your permission I would like to post your reply on my personal campaign website http://www.fairflags.org.uk
Well finally this morning I got a reply by telephone.
The chap I was speaking to did say he personally had some sympathy with the points about unfair labelling but that the NFU was backing the Red Tractor scheme. He also mentioned that the EU are working on a new labelling system (which I suspect will revolve around the bogus and undemocratic “regions” system).
Despite the NFU representing English and Welsh farmers they don’t seem to see the need for English produce to be marked as such despite the fact that Scottish produce is clearly labelled Scottish.
When I suggested that English farmers would get a better deal if England had it’s own parliament (like the Welsh have their own assembly or the Scots have their own parliament) he said it was unlikely that the NFU would support something that would never happen…
I asked the NFU representitive several times for a written answer to the mail I sent, but this was refused.
If anyone from the NFU could take a few minutes to answer these questions in writing I would really appreciate it.
Feel free to ask the NFU your own questions – but don’t expect a quick or conclusive answer.
Based on what I’ve heard today, if I was an English farmer I would be starting my own union – an exclusively English one.
Jul
19
Posted by Sara Box in the comments
One of my colleagues, Pam Treasure recently wrote to ASDA regarding the use of the English Flag as Follows:
Enquiry:
The England Flag is red and white NOT red white and blue. I am a fan of Asda but please, if your products are from England then please do not use the union flag, but the England flag of St George. St George at ASDA, has a great ring to it, don’t you think ??
Thankyou
Pam Treasure
English Democrats
And here was the response:
Hello Mrs Treasure,
Thanks for your recent feedback with regard to country of origin flags currently used on product labels.
We currently use the word “British” and a Union Jack flag on our Fresh Meat labels, to ensure our availability is consistent. The term “British” allows us some flexibility so if necessary we can use produce from different parts of the UK to ensure we can satisfy demand.
The word “British” and the Union Jack flag are well recognised by our customers. Research has shown the vast majority of our customers are happy with the “British” message, and the simple and bold flag design offers clarity at the fixture.
We also currently use “Scottish” and “Welsh” specific labels which are seen as a real benefit to our Scottish & Welsh customers.
Fresh Meat Quality, Welfare and Sourcing are vitally important the Fresh Meat Team at Asda and we are constantly striving to ensure we deliver the very best to our customers. As a direct result of your enquiry we will be changing our Extra Special Beef labels to include the word “English” and a St. George’s Cross.
Once again, thanks for contacting us.
Yours Sincerely,
Kelvin Edet
ASDA Service Team
Great work Pam. It’s a start – let’s hope they all follow!
Now might be a great time to get in touch with Asda to help ensure they follow through.
Jul
13
Shop watch – Tesco
Filed Under Tesco | 2 Comments
Tesco shows the English flag. Is this a first?
Fairflags badges
Boycot Dairycrest
