Union Jack flag on Driving Licences.

The Tories seem determined to airbrush the national identities of the Welsh, Scots and the North of Ireland off the map of these islands. The latest bit of 'imperial jingoism' is to put the Union Jack on our Driving Licences either with or without the EU flag. Obviously the No 10 spokesperson who said this gave not an ounce of thought to the views and sensibility of the Celtic nations:

"There's no reason why the British driving licence should have the EU flag but not the union flag. People in this country are proud of our national symbols. It's time that, once again, we allowed those national symbols on British driving licences."

If we are going to go down this route then there is no reason why the EU flag should not be accompanied by the Ddraig Goch, the Saltire, St Piran and the Tricolour or perhaps the Ulster flag on our Driving Licences in our respective countries.

Perhaps David Cameron would do well to realise why the Labour Government in 1997 chose to abandon the idea:

In 1996, the Conservative government was planning to put the union flag and the crest on the then-new plastic card driving licences that were shortly to be introduced.

However, the incoming Labour government reversed this decision, and the new plastic licences, first issued in 1998, had no union flag or royal crest.

One reason was that there was doubt that Catholic drivers in Northern Ireland would tolerate the union flag on their driving licence – and there is still a possibility that no symbol will be placed on cards issued in Northern Ireland
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Ministers will also have to wait for the result of the Scottish referendum on independence in 2014 to know if the current union flag is to remain in existence.

David Cameron should waste no more time on this 'hair brained idea.'