I'm an ex-Royal Marine - this is my message to youngsters after school Union Jack shaming

As a Royal Marine who served this country with pride, I often wonder what the brave men who stormed the beaches of Normandy or endured the trenches of the Somme would make of Britain today. These men - heroes, all of them - laid down their lives for our freedom, our values, our nation. And yet here we are, a few generations later, watching the country they died for being slowly dismantled from within.

The recent case of 12-year-old Courtney Wright being punished - yes, punished - for wearing a Union Flag dress to school is a gut punch to anyone who still believes in Britain. A girl, proud of her heritage, proud of where she comes from, chose to express that pride on a day supposedly dedicated to celebrating culture. And how was she treated? Pulled out of class. Held in isolation. Shamed. All because she dared to celebrate her own country.

I served in Afghanistan. I lost friends. Real men. Brave men. Men who believed, as I do, that our country is worth fighting for. And now I'm watching the very fabric of that country being ripped apart - not by an enemy at the gates, but by cowardice, ideological capture, and a twisted obsession with national self-loathing.

What happened to Courtney was not an isolated incident. It's the latest in a long line of institutional betrayals. We've got schools bending over backwards to accommodate every culture except our own. Teachers, governors, and public servants too terrified to offend anyone - except, of course, the British people. Because to be proud of being British today is somehow controversial.

What a disgrace. What an insult to those who gave everything for this country. Courtney's dress wasn't political. It was patriotic. And let's be honest - even if it were political, so what? If other students can wear clothing representing foreign nations, religions, and traditions without question, then why is our national flag so offensive? The real problem is this: Britishness is being pushed to the margins. Celebrated one day a year on VE Day or during a royal wedding, then buried under a pile of guilt and shame the rest of the time.

Our children are growing up in a country where they're told to apologise for their heritage, to downplay their history, to be embarrassed by their identity. That's not progress - that's cultural surrender. The school in question has since apologised, but the damage is done. Courtney learned, as too many of our children are learning, that being proud to be British will land you in trouble. That loving your country makes you a target.

Well, I say enough. I didn't risk my life so that future generations could be taught to bow their heads in shame. I didn't fight for a Britain where children are isolated for waving the flag their ancestors died to defend. We are British. We are proud. And we will not be silenced. So to Courtney, and to every young boy and girl like her: stand tall. Wear that flag with pride. Speak up. Refuse to be shamed.

You are the future of this nation, and this nation needs you - because the battle for Britain is no longer being fought on the front lines, but in our classrooms, our town halls, and our hearts. We owe it to the past to stand firm in the present. And we owe it to the future to never back down.