How long before all England football fans are labelled racists?

Only a few weeks to go until the World Cup and, as one would expect, "England Fever" begins. That's where we all get excited about "our best chance since 1966" (again) and sales of England flags to drape from your windows, or fly from your car go through the roof.

I wonder, therefore, how long it will be before someone at the Guardian, or perhaps someone from the borish "right on" blogosphere, comments about the rise of England flag waving and says that it represent an inherent and latent racism amongst us all.

Let's be honest, it's bound to happen. Back in 2004, for the European Championships, the Guardian produces a banner on it's website which showed one of those cheap England flags flying from a car, under which it said, if I recall correctly,

"England flags for cars: making casual racists and simpletons easier to avoid."

Two years later, prior to the last World Cup and just after the BNP won some Council seats, Joseph Harker, again at the Guardian who lamented,

Is it just me, or is anyone else slightly worried about the number of St George's flags flying from road vehicles right now?.... Could it be that many of the England flag-wavers are in fact supporters of [the BNP], glorying in their "victory" and celebrating their racial pride?

So, four years on from there, the Tories in power (admittedly in coalition), "immigration" an key election issue and on the lips of the Labour leadership contenders, you just know that's it coming again.

Football might very well come home, as too will the chattering classes who get worried that flying the flag of your national team if it's England is probably a sign that we're all vicious racist thugs just itching to repatriate the non-white Anglo-Saxon protestants horde.

Anyhow, for the record, I'm supporting England and then Italy because Mrs Dizzy is Italian. As I noted last night, if England win she'll still see it as an Italian victory what with Capello being an Iti.