Of all the casualties of bureaucracy and belt-tightening, the potential scrapping of the Scouting movement’s annual St George’s Day parade in Bradford seems a particularly sad one.

There seem to be few enough opportunities to be proud of our national heritage these days, and the St George’s Day celebrations do give us pause to comemmorate just what is good about our country.

As well as being the patron saint of England, St George also doubles up as that of the Scouting movement which affords children great opportunities in learning respect, involvement with their community, and useful new skills, and it is a heart-warming sight to see boys and girls parading in their uniforms.

But all that looks to be coming to an end after this year, and it’s all down to money. National rules on policing mean the local force cannot provide officers to oversee the march without a charge, money which the Scout leaders say they cannot afford.

Thankfully, civic-minded Special Constables have agreed to marshal the event on an ad hoc basis this year, but it could be the last time the parade happens. It will be a great shame to see this event, which has a long and proud history in Bradford, consigned to the history books. Young people so rarely, it seems, get to do something in large numbers which we can all be proud of. Let us hope that sense prevails somewhere and that an exception is made to the police guidelines for events such as this. But just in case, let’s have a big turnout and show of support for tomorrow’s parades.