The UK’s Decline Speeds Up with the Home County of Oxford Banning the Flag, Andrea Widburg
The sun hasn't just set on the British Empire; the last remnant of the Empire is busy setting itself on fire, in an act of suicidal self-loathing.
I won't say that Oxford, a town located in Oxfordshire County, England, is the first thing people think of when they think of England, but it's certainly one of the main things they think of. The city grew up around a castle built by Robert D'Oyly, who came over in 1066 with William the Conqueror. It became a center of scholarship by the end of the 12th century, and a full-fledged university town by the beginning of the 13th century.
For 800 years, Oxford University, like Cambridge University, was a primary center of European intellectualism, from the medieval era through the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and into the modern era. Each was the birthplace of uncountable British political and thought leaders. They were, for many, a microcosm of everything that was Great Britain when Britain was still great.
But times have changed. Oxford is an anti-Western, anti-British institution, and the county that hosts it is now banning the flag of St. George, which is the official flag of England. (The more familiar Union Jack is the flag of the United Kingdom.)
To understand the rot in Oxfordshire, you need to appreciate the rot in Oxford.
In 2011, it floated a plan to rebrand its ancient theology department as a multi-faith department. (Oxford, like most European universities, started out as a theological school.) For the first time in 800 years, theology students would no longer be required to learn their Bible (both Old and New Testaments) but could instead focus entirely on Islam or Hinduism. By 2016, that plan was a reality, with Buddhism, feminism, and mysticism added as acceptable theological studies in lieu of the Bible.
By 2017, Oxford banned a Christian group from setting up booths at its Freshers' Fair, lest it "harm" those freshers. In 2021, one of its colleges apologized for hosting a Christian conference. In 2023, LGBT+ students were circulating lists of "homophobic" churches—that is, churches that still preached a core biblical doctrine, which is that homosexuality is not right with God. By 2025, Oxford had dropped its ancient Latin graduation language, which used terms like "ladies" and "gentlemen," to accommodate the "it" people demanding representation.
After the October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel and Israel's subsequent determination to destroy Hamas, Oxford University itself adopted a neutral position. A large number of faculty members were not neutral. They were all in for Hamas. In addition, about 23 of the 39 colleges backed Hamas. And of course, as in America, the students were wildly antisemitic.
In 2021, some bright minds at Oxford tried to cancel the entire canon of Western music. And in October 2025, the head of the Oxford Union, the organization that sponsors Oxford's famous debating society, a man named George Abaraonye (so you can guess how deep his British roots run), loudly celebrated Charlie Kirk's assassination. Although Abaraonye was eventually driven from office, the fact is that he is a perfect symbol of modern academia in Britain.
In other words, Oxford, the most famous town in Oxfordshire, is rotten to the core. It's scarcely surprising, then, that the rot would have spread from town to county. And that's how we end up with what Spiked (a wonderful British publication) calls "A fatwa on the England flag."
The leader of Oxfordshire County Council issued a stern warning this week. Acts of 'intimidation', Liz Leffman said, had left residents feeling 'distressed, unwelcome and unsafe in their own communities'. 'We will not hesitate to take further legal steps where necessary', she said, reassuring Oxonians that this outbreak of criminality would be met with the full force of the council's authority.
This is very strong language. So strong, in fact, that you could be forgiven for thinking that Oxfordshire might be in the midst of an epidemic of burglary, knife-crime or drive-by shootings. You would be wrong. The 'crime' Leffman is referring to is flying the English flag.
'The widespread installation of flags by Raise the Colours is not a sign of patriotism', said Leffman, referring to the campaign launched last summer to flood England's towns with national flags. Apparently, flag-raising 'is an act of intimidation and division that is having a real and damaging impact on our communities'. Locals were left under no illusion as to the council's commitment to end the scourge of patriotism: 'The council has a responsibility to act where behaviour undermines community cohesion and the safe and inclusive use of public spaces. That is why we are taking firm action.'
For centuries, universities have been nations' thought leaders. Where they led, whole cultures and political movements followed. It's time for that to end, because it's very clear that Western academic institutions are leading us straight to cultural suicide and, if the Islamic jihad has its way, to the true Islamic goal: a worldwide caliphate.
I don't think the institutions can be reformed. They need to be abandoned, with normal people shying away from them and allowing them to rot into obscurity. Otherwise, just as is the case in Oxfordshire, we'll all be infected. There, the sun hasn't just set on the British Empire; the last remnant of the Empire is busy setting itself on fire, in an act of suicidal self-loathing.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2026/04/02/a-fatwa-on-the-england-flag/
There is an even greater irony in Oxfordshire, of all places, issuing a progressive fatwa on the English flag. Every year, millions of tourists descend on Oxford to essentially pay homage to the nation's history and culture. They can see it all: England's oldest university (which predates the Aztec Empire), the Radcliffe Camera, Christ Church college, the pub where CS Lewis and JR Tolkien drank – so much that is great about England is on display, except of course the national flag.
There is some consolation in the thought that the war on the English flag is almost certain to end in failure. Because, if the Raise the Colours campaign showed us anything, it is that the English have well and truly had it with the kind of national self-loathing Oxford remains committed to. Patriotism, at long last, is no longer a dirty word. Oxford should get with the programme.
