to be seriously concerned about the illegal surveillance cameras and flags on lamp posts?

[Kije]

That's it, really. I live in a semi-rural area. No racial tensions locally, that I'm aware of, at all. The local small market town and surrounding roads are covered, and I do mean covered, in illegally posted flags, all over lamp posts - sometimes three deep. They come down (the local council sometimes stirs themselves to take them down) and are replaced within a few hours. It's been like this since late last summer.

And now the same charming people who are trying to intimidate what they like to call 'pathetic lefties' have put up dozens of surveillance cameras on the same lamp posts, aimed in all directions in a clear attempt to intimidate local people who'd like to take the flags down. The mob who do the flags have said on their own FB site, it's to 'protect their property' (eg the flags they've illegally stuck up lamp posts, it's essentially littering). The obvious take-home is, they think this is their town and they aim to create a chilling effect for anyone who dares to discuss this on local social media, or take the flags down again.

The flags are illegal: the cameras doubly so, I'd have thought, given privacy laws?? Or at least, I'm assuming surveillance cameras mounted on public property and aimed at pedestrians and drivers have to be done by a legitimate authority.

I look at what was happening in Belfast (and elsewhere) last night and honestly, I'm terrified for our country. We seem to be sliding into lawlessness and vigilantism, and blatant intimidation of anyone who speaks out against it.

Surely if filming people on public highways was even remotely illegal then dashcams would be banned rather than the current system where police actively appeal for dashcam footage after accidents. 🤷‍♀️

Sorry if been mentioned before, but planning permission might be an option re the cameras. Esp if in a conservation area.

CCTV - Security - Planning Portal

Is this Shrewsbury?

😂

Exactly, and flying a union flag should be embraced, it’s our national flag. I see Ukraine flags everywhere.

The flags are horrible. I can't understand why so many people are relaxed about them, and sneery about people who don't like them. There aren't any near me but I drove past loads at the weekend and I hadn't seen anything like it since traveling through troubles-era Northern Ireland. Of course they're designed to be intimidating.

It’s all about dominance of a public space which is an extreme thing to do. After a while it comes with an extra side of scary blokes “looking after our people”.

You are right to be concerned

Because they are a deliberate attempt to intimidate people who don't 'fit in'.

'Not fitting in' meaning raping teenagers and sexually assaulting women?

Next stop a Belfast scenario. Those scenes of burnt out houses are truly shocking.

No it shouldn’t. What it now stands for is awful. The union jack is an embarrassment. It’s been hijacked and where many are flown is a driving distraction. Our council taxes should not be paying for them, only those with permission and as part of council planning should be flying them ( or can we all shove up any old tatty flag). I’d report the cameras to the police, that’s intimidation and filming without consent isn’t ok. Council installed CCTV is entirely different. Weirdos deciding they want to keep track of members of the public is not ok.

What all of them? All nin-whites and immigrants are rapists? People like you frighten me.

Flags for a sporting event or occasion like the Coronation are completely different as you well know. FYI nobody is scared of the actual flags just the people who put them up.

It is illegal to mount a camera to a lamppost without council permission though, whether you’re recording with it or not. It’s vandalism/trespassing.
I’d report them to the council or even the police @Kije and take pictures of all the rubbish they put up then shame them on social media.

Once the gov get immigration under control it will stop

But it's the world cup and i'm sure the union jack will flying a lot

If you think that you are deluded. Do you think they flags will scare all the brown people away? At least you admit that's what they are there for.

The Union Jack has nothing to do with the World Cup BTW

It's being held in the US - I'm pretty sure they associate the Union Jack with England whatever you think

Our council won't remove the skanky flags. I've asked them.

The nasty flag shagging men have been known to film people who try and take their beloved flags down. They've made our town look shite.

There are a few faux-innocent ‘it’s just a flag’ comments on this thread. Completely disingenuous, they know exactly what flags mean in the context OP describes.

^^This.

No, you can't just pop a camera up on public property without appropriate procedures in place to deal with the processing and secure storage of information gathered, or a way of responding to requests from people captured on camera.

Plus, the lamp posts are council owned. Therefore the cameras are in the same boat as the flags: permission was neither sought nor granted to put them up and therefore they can be removed.

Rubbish. The people who have legitimate concerns are engaging in grown up debate and conversation. These flags are being put up by knuckle dragging racists, cheered on by Tommy. Let's not pretend they're about anything other than white (male) supremacy. How many are being put up by women, do you think?

And yes, I have a George Cross flying in my garden for the World Cup. It's accompanied by a flags of the world flag, because I'm sick and tired of the George Cross being hijacked by dickhead racists who share a brain cell.

Agree. 💯

You actually have a duty to do this. Every single one of you needs to be the squeaky wheel.

I can’t even imagine how people of colour are feeling in your area. It must be petrifying.

Don't put words in my mouth. It's ridiculous that people like you defend violent men from cultures that stone women to death and marry ten year olds. Even when we have events where 1200 European women get sexually assaulted and 500 raped by Egypt style street mobs in a single evening.

It doesn't matter if it's all of them. We hear enough about the 100 women a year that get murdered here. 100 men out of 32m is a miniscule percentage so nothing to worry about by your reasoning.

I don’t think it is ‘just a flag’ but then which flag really is just a flag? A flag is used to signify something, I can’t think of a single one that means absolutely nothing. Is the pride flag ‘just a rainbow’? Is the Palestinian flag simply put up to mean ‘Palestine’? Of course not.

Of course in the case of national flags they’re probably put up by people with varying strengths of nationalist feelings. There’s nothing wrong with that - we have no problem with other people saying they’re proud to be from Ukraine/Brazil/Ivory Coast or wherever, it’s just the UK (and probably a few other countries) where is descends into mayhem and accusations of far right racism.

The more you flap about the flags being put up, the more it confirms these people’s beliefs that there are a core of people who despise the UK and want to do their level best to discourage its culture (and yep, we do have one - in the same way every other country does).

My town is fairly ‘Reform’ and there was a big hoo ha about massive Pride banners going up, but they were told to suck it up. Can you not do similar in the name of tolerance?

Oh don’t be so obtuse. It’s blatant racism and intimidation, and minimisation like this is a larger part of the problem. Read up on Europe in the 1920 & 1930 and you may be able to put this behaviour into its real context