Just wow. There are bad decisions – and then there is this.

Like so many others, I read the story this morning about Courtney Wright, the schoolgirl put into isolation for wearing a Union Jack dress to school on a day that was meant to celebrate different cultures, open-mouthed and utterly aghast.

Yes, people make mistakes. But this? It is such a bizarre failure of judgement, it absolutely beggars belief. How in anyone’s calculations can a British girl, going to a British school, dressed in a British flag to celebrate cultures be wrong?

I tell you something… I have a girl who is the same age as Courtney and if she had have been given the same brief, I’m certain she would have chosen an almost identical get-up. And should there have been any inkling of pushback? I’d have been as appalled as her father, Stuart Field, 47 who rightly said: “She should not be made to feel ashamed about being British – and she certainly shouldn’t be punished for it.”

He added: “Someone at the school has politicised a Union Jack dress.”

What has this country come to? I’m certain that will be the question on many people’s lips as they catch up on the disastrous call made by the Bilton School in Rugby.

The event had been billed as a celebration of cultural heritage – so straight-A student Courtney obviously had it bang on the money. But, remarkably, she wasn’t the only one to get in trouble – there was reportedly a child dressed in traditional farming clothes, another with a St George’s flag and one with a Welsh flag who were all turned away too. Conversely burkas, niqabs and Nigiarian dress were allowed.

It is that kind of double standard that truly drives all sane people up the wall. It is symptomatic of a country that is tying itself up in knots.

The truth is that teachers and many public sector workers are absolutely terrified at being called out as racist or insensitive. It sets in motion panic that can leave people frozen in fear, making incredibly baffling and downright outrageous decisions as countless consultations with diversity experts are made. The fear of causing offence has now reached the terrifying place that a Union Jack can be seen as controversial.

Yes, this is one example of a ludicrous decision – but it’s a scary attitude that’s taking hold in this country and part of a wider cultural shift where tweets can see someone locked up and real crime goes unpunished.

It needs to stop.

I am so very proud to be British, and I’ve instilled that pride in my children. Courtney should have been praised for her outfit and not punished. Schools should make celebrating British identity central to their ethos. Perhaps then we can start to move away from this woke madness.