Former BBC presenter Richard Bacon has criticized Britons for displaying Union Jack flags in public spaces, suggesting this reflects a preference for a less diverse Britain.

Bacon, known for his time on Blue Peter and as a host on BBC Radio 5 Live, made his comments in light of statements from ‘champagne socialist’ football pundit Gary Neville.

Neville stirred controversy with his remarks against ‘angry middle-aged men’ erecting Union flags and mentioned his action of removing one himself.

This month, Neville shared a video online criticizing the practice of attaching St George’s and Union Jack flags to lampposts, part of the initiative dubbed ‘Operation Raise The Colours’.

Opposition to the display of Union Jack flags has now been bolstered by broadcaster Bacon, 49, talking on BBC2’s Newsnight.

Having relocated to the US in 2016, Bacon referenced the Union Jack’s popularity in the 1990s, notably when Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls wore a Union Jack dress at the Brits.

He contrasted this with the recent movement to fly the Union Jack and St George’s flags across British streets, pointing out that some local councils have faced backlash for removing them.

Bacon told Newsnight: ‘There are times when it’s fine and celebratory when Geri Halliwell was wearing Union Jack pants in the late Nineties – that was all fun and playful.

‘Right now, if you stick a pole and a Union Jack tomorrow outside your house, I think you’re making a statement.

‘I think that statement is you’d probably prefer Britain to be more white.’

He has been met by anger in reply, with aggrieved posters disputing any suggestion of racism.

Bacon has doubled down on his stance, sharing with his 1.1million followers on X a clip from the Newsnight broadcast and adding the comment: ‘I agree with me.’ 

His Newsnight appearance came while sitting alongside former Brexit Party MEP Alex Phillips, who challenged Bacon’s stance.

She said: ‘The context has been curated and invented by politicians – that’s the problem.

‘This myth that the flag is somehow racist, this whole idea that nationalism is somehow toxic, has been forcefed on to society and it doesn’t sit happily with the ordinary person.

‘I don’t think it’s ethnic or nationalist, I don’t think skin colour has got anything to do with it.

‘Do I think it’s nationalist? Yes. Do I think that being proud of your nation and identifying with your nation is a negative thing? No.’

Bacon replied by saying: ‘I don’t think that either. I’m not saying it’s always that – I’m just saying that at certain times, when it’s a very hot topic, in that context I think you could be making a statement.’

The Daily Mail has approached Bacon’s representatives for further comment. 

There has been a flurry of responses online responding to his remarks.

One poster replied:  ‘For flying the nation’s flag? I mean I’m Welsh and Irish so I despise that flag but surely people should be allowed to fly it as patriots rather than racists.’

Another said, ‘Well the British people certainly DON’T agree with you’, while he was also queried: ‘Eh? What kind of logic is that? I have a Union Jack on my desk because that is my national flag.’ 

A separate commenter on X, formerly Twitter, said: ‘When people start feeling embarrassed by their own country’s flag, it’s a sign that those trying to undermine national pride are having an impact.

‘Thankfully, many of us still feel proud to fly it. My wife, who’s of Indian heritage but born in Manchester, wants us to put ours up.’

Another response said: ‘Anyone who flies a Union flag is doing so because they are proud to be British. Do you not understand the difference between nationality and ethnicity?’

The furore follows Neville directing his ire at the nation’s flag-wavers 24 hours after two Jewish worshippers were killed on Yom Kippur at a Manchester synagogue.

In his video, which he posted to LinkedIn on Friday last week, Neville said: ‘I just kept thinking as I was driving home last night that we’re all being turned on each other.

‘And the division that’s being created is absolutely disgusting – mainly created by angry, middle-aged white men, who know exactly what they’re doing.’

The co-owner of League Two Salford City, who has built a sprawling property empire in Manchester since retiring from football, told how he ‘instantly’ took down a Union Jack flag that was fluttering near one of his building sites.

His comments came after the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation tragedy, where Syrian-born terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie launched a deadly knife and car rampage.

Neville began his video by saying: ‘Seeing the news last night and the news this morning dominated by the horrific attacks within the Jewish community, just a mile from here.’

He then switched his attention to the raising of flags – a movement called ‘Operation Raise the Colours’.

The ‘Operation Raise The Colours’ movement was co-founded by Andrew Currien, also known as Andy Saxon.

Mr Saxon, who has alleged links to the English Defence League and Britain First, is an ally of Tommy Robinson whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

The campaign has also accepted a donation of flags from Britain First, which has denied repeated accusations that it is a far-right and fascist organisation.

Neville continued: ‘When I was driving to Salford City last night, going down Littleton Road, I’ve seen probably 50 or 60 Union Jack flags.

‘And on the way back I went down the parallel road, Bury New Road, which has got the Jewish community right at its heart and they’re out on the streets, defiant, not hiding or in fear.

‘Funnily enough, on one of my development sites last week there was a Union Jack flag put up and I took it down instantly.’

Critics of his latest remarks on flags have included Reform UK MP Lee Anderson, who labelled Neville ‘completely out of touch’.

The former Labour councillor and ex-Conservative MP added: ‘I believe in free speech but on this occasion just shut up.’

He told the former footballer: ‘You had no problem in playing in front of the England flag – and the middle-aged English men you talk about are the same type men that paid your wages.’

Nick Buckley, an award-winning charity boss who was sacked for criticising Black Lives Matter, wrote on X: ‘Gary is an a***. A Champaign [sic] socialist who through indoctrination seems to hate his country and citizens.’

And Reform UK’s Greater Lincolnshire mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns dubbed Neville ‘Gary Lineker Mark Two’ – a nod to the ex-England captain and former Match Of The Day host who has also faced a right-wing backlash for his political interventions.

But Neville has been backed by a Government minister, with faith and communities minister Miatta Fahnbulleh hitting out at people ‘trying to stoke tension’.

She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘I think he’s really right, that there are people who are trying to divide us at the moment.

‘We’ve seen this playbook before. Life is really tough for people across our communities. I spent a lot of time going around our communities, talking to people – people are ground down.

‘We’ve had a decade and a half in which living standards haven’t budged and people have seen their communities held down – and you will get people trying to stoke division, trying to blame others, trying to stoke tension.’

And Neville, who won 85 caps for the Three Lions including stepping in at times as captain, has hit back at taunts of being unpatriotic, saying: ‘I played for my country 85 times, I love my country.

‘I love Manchester and I love England, but I’ve been building in this city for 15 to 20 years and there’s no one put a Union Jack flag up in the last 15 to 20 years, so why do you have to put one up now?

‘Quite clearly it’s sending a message to everybody that there’s something you don’t like.

‘The Union Jack flag being used in a negative fashion is not right and I’m a proud supporter of England, Great Britain, of our country, and I’ll champion it anywhere in the world as one of the greatest places to live.

‘But I think we need to check ourselves, bring ourselves back to a neutral point, because we’re being pulled right and left and we don’t need to be, at all.’