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Boris Johnson has slammed the Prime Minister over his reaction to people putting up English flags and Union Jacks. He took to Twitter to say that Keir Starmer’s Labour party “doesn’t share their patriotism”.

The former PM wrote in the Daily Mail about his appreciation for those raising flags, saying he has “nothing against these impromptu displays of national feeling”. Flags started to be put up in public spaces over the summer, hanging them from street lamps and sign posts. Though those putting them up say they are simply a symbol of patriotism, others believe they are fearmongering tools of the far-right, used to stir up anti-immigration sentiments and other tensions. Starmer said to The Guardian in September that St George’s flag “represents our diverse country” and that he would not tolerate people being “intimidated on our streets because of their background or the colour of their skin”. He also told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I’m very encouraging of flags. I think they’re patriotic and I think they’re a great symbol of our nation.

“I don’t think they should be devalued and belittled. I think sometimes when they’re used purely for divisive purposes, actually it devalues the flag.”

Johnson said they give the winter months a “festive, almost jubilee mood”, saying that he told his children they are just a way to say “Hooray for England! Hooray for Britain!”

He added that people are putting English and British flags up as the Labour Government can’t be relied on for “simple and uncomplicated patriotism”.

Johnson also criticised the Government cancelling the previous Tory government’s plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, at the cost of £200,000 per person, according to Migration Observatory.

He said that Starmer and other “lefty lawyers” see it as a point of “positive national pride” that the UK legal system prevents refugees from being sent home as “it shows we are a cut above other countries – better, more humane”.

The former prime minister finished by saying: “That’s why the flags are still going up; not so much out of pride, but out of despair at not being heard.”