THESE words are Sir Winston Churchill's. "There is a forgotten, nay almost forbidden word, which means more to me than any other. That word is England."

Their meaning is worth considering today, St George's Day.

England's national day is a poor relation of the celebrations of our Celtic neighbours when the patron saints of St Patrick, St Andrew and St David are marked.

So why are we so disinclined to mark St George's Day? Perhaps it is the natural English reserve; perhaps the people of Ireland, Scotland and Wales simply have a greater sense of national identity.

There may be an element of truth in both suggestions. What really concerns us, however, is that there appears to be a feeling of shame holding England back from marking our national day properly.

We seem to fear upsetting others when, in truth, other nationalities would be more than happy to see St George celebrated.

The real obstacle to today becoming a true day of national pride is the way in which the flag of St George has been hijacked by right-wing extremists and football hooligans. They drape themselves in the flag and the result is that the rest of us fear doing so.

England should not be a forbidden word - the tolerant majority should celebrate it.

We are proud to fly the flag on our front page today. If, as a nation, we all determined to snatch it back from the loonies and the thugs then today could become a day of celebration and inspiration.