The council should be taking down England flags in public places?

[fourfoxsakes]

I have driven through a couple of areas in the last few days where England flags are being displayed on public lamp posts, it makes me feel very uncomfortable and unwelcome in the area and I think gosh I’m glad I don’t live here, but why are the council not taking them down?

I know Ive already posted this point but to repeat, by your logic that's the same argument to be used with the Palestinian marchers the first of which started while the massacres on Oct 7th were in progress. Massacres with anti semitic intent. Why would people march and fly the Palestinian flag and make people think your motives are murky?

If you think that all people who put up flags are Tommy Robinson supporters then all people on those Gaza marches must automatically be anti semitic Hamas supporters. Guilt by association.

It's exactly the same point. You are tarring everyone with the same brush.

And Palestinian flags are being flown to show anti .jewish sentiment so I assume you’re opposed to those too?

Here we go again.

Yes, because there are currently events which English people want to celebrate, like the euros, the rugby world cup, commemorate battle of Britain, BE day, and in a few weeks, remembrance day. Celebrating freedom from oppression and sporting excellence.

I'm not naive enough to think that all flags are up for positive reasons, but some are, and should the people who have put them up for positive reasons not be allowed to because of those who do so for negative reasons? That we let the negative people control us? That's a really depressing thought!

I can't begin to believe they are up for the rugby or whatever.

When people put them up for sporty reasons where I live they do not appear on bridges and lamposts.

Some have been appearing on a bridge near me and then someone must take them down. They then appear a few weeks later.

The high up lamposts ones are obviously more difficult to remove so these have stayed.

I would argue it doesn't matter if they are up for the rugby or not. It's our national flag and we can fly it whenever we like and for.whatever reason. And if the craze.catches on to fly our flag like clapping for the NHS (although that was weird) then all the better.

My sister works in a local council and they have met and said they won’t remove them but won’t acknowledge them.

as a proud Brit I think the flags look good 😍

TBF we really are the mildest mannered people in the world! We've repeatedly voted for less immigration for decades and been ignored every time. So.much so that immigration has accelerated massively. Most countries would have eventually had huge riots or a revolution and overthrown the government. What do we do...fly our own flag in our own country 🤣. And we STILL get accused of being racist intolerant bigots!!🤣

You are being sarcastic…..??

Why is it ok for someone who has come to live in England have taken offence to the George Cross Flag.
I travel to Spain quite a few times a year, I wouldn't dare take offence to their flag.
Most countries in the world are very proud of the national flag.
Over the years we have welcomed people from all across the globe now we are getting backlash to show some pride in our country.

Hear, hear.

If everyone who loves their country went out with a flag and tied it to a pole, bush, tree. There'd be millions of them which would greatly undermine the Tommy Robinson types. They'd have to find another flag.

Completely agree! It’s ridiculous!

Every ‘patriot’ on here should take a look in the mirror and wonder why it took far right racist grifters to remind them to be patriotic - and then to demonstrate that by putting flags up that had to be crowdfunded to obtain, (no don’t purchase your own country flag eh), on any random lamppost (illegally/against council rules) at a disrespectful half mast.
Wish someone would have thought of litter picking, helping an old neighbour, clearing rivers and canals but hey we have tatty flags to brighten our worst kept streets and motorways.

Oh give over.

I do a lot of that @MsJinks, along with various other charitable volunteering activities. Plus we have always flown flags & ironically put bunting up for VE Day and left it for VJ day. We hadn’t gotten round to taking it down when this whole furore started, so made the conscious decision to leave the Union Jack bunting up. Make of that whatever you like but we are in no way racist & it’s out of order that people flying their national flag in their own country are called racist.

People can show they love their country any way they chose to. You keep mentioning litter picking and that's obviously the way you do it. Others like to wave a flag like millions of other people have throughout history.

Hope you also remove Palestinian and Pride flags, can't have anyone expressing their views via the medium of flag, can we? Except I guess it's only the England flag, in England, that bothers you.

Why did it take far right racists with strings of convictions to their name to remind people to do this?

That’s really great. I also have seen bunting for events on streets, usually agreed in advance events with everything following whatever protocol, and it’s great, lovely.
But it’s disingenuous, or at best naive, to insist there is no agenda behind this wave of flags half mast on lamp posts.
To be honest whatever I had outside my home, if Tommy Robinson was recommending it to annoy migrants then I’d take it down and away, as I wouldn’t wish to be associated with it.
It’s a smart, slick, well organised (well funded) campaign by the far right - refusing to acknowledge that leaves others to form opinions on your reasons for actions (not meaning you personally btw, the broader ‘you’)
I have mentioned before a council worker being pushed off a ladder by one of these ‘patriots’ in case he was removing a flag - this isn’t your average street event participant behaviour.

St George's Cross is the national flag of England, and unless or until we get another one, it is what it is.

Can you imagine the reaction of the citizens of any other nation if their local council (or the equivalent) went round taking down their own national flag because it offended people who are not of that nationality?

Yes yes, I know it has been usurped by racists for their own despicable ends, but we need to wrestle it from their unpleasant grasp, and taking them all down is not going to achieve that. It will simply make the racists even more offensive than they already are.

Why wouldn’t you expect to see English flags in er - England? Please get a grip.

It bothers me seeing lots of flags at half mast on lamp posts on a street. I feel that street is full of Tommy supporters of the worst kind and I feel worried about my safety and my car, if I had to park there - I won’t park there in reality in fact.
It bothers me seeing roundabouts vandalised with bad painting.
It really bothered me seeing a large swastika chalked in a supermarket car park.
Obviously I’m just unpatriotic eh.

Why does the flag of the country you live in make you feel uncomfortable?

Because the campaign to fly them this summer en masse has been led by the racist agitator, Tommy Robinson.

Our parish council had to have the police in attendance when a whole load of men from another area came to shout them down for refusing to allow the flags to be put up. Our council has control over the lamp posts. The neighbouring village does not, and men arrived in the middle of the night to put them up and then also took over the parish meetings. Both the residents of the villages have made it clear they do not want these flags up. The flag is not being used in the context of the jubillee, or sports, or St Georges day. It has been co opted, and is being enforced through intimidation by people who are not part of our community and do not care what our community wants. Threats were made against 60 year olds who have given endlessly to the village grind, cleaning, organising, sorting, threats. Is that patriotic? Groups of men threatning old laides and piling in online and in real life.