From today there’ll be a new Union Flag flying over the Government Office in Birmingham - and it will be flying all year round.

Other government agencies will be flying the flag too and I want local councils to do the same.

Early in my time as an MP I worked hard to change the old rule banning flying the flag except on 'special days', but too many public buildings still fail to do so.

Countries all over the world fly their flags at Town Halls, schools, and government buildings because they understand it is a symbol of national unity and pride, a symbol that belongs to all the people, because it unites them and their fellow citizens.

Of course there are things we should improve in Britain, but I believe this is the greatest country on earth and we should never be shy about saying so. Anyone who doesn’t believe that is welcome to live elsewhere.

What makes our country so special is our shared commitment to the great British values of freedom, tolerance, democracy, equality and fairness; the values that British people have fought for so many times.

Our country’s history teaches us so much about who we are as a people and what we stand for, and it shows why we can lay claim – more than any other country – to a special and unique attachment to these values.

Think of Britain in the thirties. The rest of Europe under dictatorships. Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy, Franco in Spain. Here in Britain, fascism rejected because of the value British people place on freedom.

In 1941 with Europe overrun and America not yet in the war, it was Britain and the Commonwealth that stood firm for democracy, a beacon to the rest of the world, fighting for not just Britain’s liberty, but for the world’s freedom too.

Listen to the BBC or read our press and ask why our media is more trusted the world over than papers or broadcasts from other countries.

What we learn from our history and institutions is that we have a unique and historic commitment to these values and it is these on which not just our patriotism and pride in our country is based, but the very idea of what it means to be British.

So what makes you British is not what you look like or where your parents were born, but what you believe and what you stand for, how you behave and what you contribute.

Carl Chinn’s brilliant Express and Star columns, the photographs on the letters page and TV shows like ‘Who do you think you are?’ all show our interest in our identity and where we are from.

For most of us our identity has many levels; deriving from our personal history, family and friendships, our neighbourhood, region or country, our beliefs or religion.  

Faced with these complexities, Britishness is more important than ever because it is our shared values that give us something in common and bind us together.

So I see myself as being from Dudley, English and British, others can see themselves as being Welsh or Scottish and British, Asian, Black or Jewish and British and so on.

But being a British citizen carries with it responsibilities and obligations too.

We should be absolutely clear that people who live in the UK should work hard and pay their way. They should obey the law, uphold these values and respect Britain's traditions, and they must learn to speak English too, because there’s no other way to play a full part in British society.

So for me flying our flag demonstrates our pride, tells extremists they are wrong and symbolises our belief that this is the greatest country on earth. That’s why we should keep the pressure on council bosses and civil servants to fly the flag all year round.