Fury as police warn Stoke campaigner England flag and Jerusalem hymn ‘may OFFEND locals'

Read the full article on how the Campaign for an English Parliament was pulled over by Stoke Police and warned that hanging a St George’s Cross flag and playing the hymn Jerusalem in Stoke could OFFEND people.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/768515/police-england-flag-jerusalem-offend-people-stoke-byelection     Police allow themselves to be used to harass English constitutional campaigners On Saturday afternoon, on the 11^th February 2017 in Stoke central, two policemen in a marked vehicle indicated that the Campaign for English Parliament’s campaign vehicle should pull over. They had stopped the vehicle claiming that they had received complaints that a vehicle playing ‘Jerusalem’, England’s national sporting anthem and displaying the cross of St George on the vehicles side banners could cause offence to some in the local community given that the area was so ethnically diverse. This was despite the fact that both officers acknowledged that the vehicle had not committed any criminal offence and that we were well within our rights to raise the very important constitutional issue of an English parliament. Eddie Bone, Campaign Director, Campaign for an English Parliament and driver of the vehicle stated “How utterly ridiculous, you cannot even play ‘Jerusalem’, England’s sporting anthem and display the English flag anymore on ‘England’s streets’ without the fear of being harassed. Anti-English racism is rife across the UK and it was wrong of the police to pull over a vehicle because of spurious claims of causing offence that it caused offence”. Eddie Bone continued “ We need to be clear, all the Campaign for an English Parliament vehicle had displayed on the side banners  was the slogan ‘stand up for England by supporting an English Parliament’, with the words equality and fairness printed next to that slogan, yet  the police were willing to stop that vehicle because they accepted that those words could cause offence. I believe that the police by responding to those spurious claims of offence taking allowed themselves to be used in the harassment of individuals who were just trying to say that England needs to be treated fairly”. The Campaign for an English parliament is currently in the process of complaining to the Police commissioner for Staffordshire, Matthew Ellis due to those officers’ actions. They need to be retrained to understand that people who spuriously express anti-English sentiments are racists. The police should have visited the complainants to challenge their anti-English racism not stopped the Campaign for an English Parliament’s for legitimately campaigning.   Eddie Bone Campaign Director Campaign for an English Parliament Mobile 07980667732