“Because that’s not what our country is mate.”
21:10, 28 Aug 2025Updated 21:38, 28 Aug 2025
The confrontation was captured on camera(Image: Pablo O’Hana)
A confrontation over a Union Jack flag put up over a footbridge in south Manchester was caught on mobile phone footage.
In recent days, grassroots ‘Operation Raise The Colours’ has seen members of the public attach Union Jacks or St George’s flags to street furniture such as bridges or lamp-posts across the country.
On a Facebook page, which has thousands of members, it states it wants to ‘bring back patriotism once and for all’. And, during recent anti-migrant protests in the UK, some participants have been seen carrying or wearing the Union Flag and St George’s flag.
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It comes after multiple Union Jack flags were put up along Market Street and in Piccadilly Gardens overnight on Wednesday (August 27). There were reports to police that groups of men putting up the flags were ‘harassing’ women and passers-by.
Union Jack flags were put up along Market Street and in Piccadilly Gardens(Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
Pablo O’Hana, who works as a political advisor, was cycling along Wilmslow Road through Didsbury on the way to the gym on Wednesday when he spotted a Union Jack and England flag cable tied to a bridge above him.
He told the M.E.N of how he walked up the bridge before removing the two flags which he claimed are currently ‘being used to cause division’ before he was confronted by a man from a local pub.
Man putting up flags confronted
In the footage which he filmed, Pablo can be heard being asked if he had taken them down by the man, to which he replies: “Yeah, I did, yeah.”
When asked why by the other man in the footage, Pablo responds: “Because that’s not what our country is mate.”
“I put the f****rs up,” the other man responds, before asking: “What the f*** do you think you’re doing son?” and “F*** off you d***head” before climbing up the stairs to try and retrieve them.
Pablo said he removed the flags as they had been put up on council property and because ‘our country is better than that’.
Concerns have been raised in recent days over the painting of the red St George’s cross on the likes of white walls and mini-roundabouts across the country.
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Three roundabouts in Trafford and road junctions in Sale were also modified with a red cross to resemble the flag as well as a roundabout in Fitton Hill in Oldham.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham last week suggested that people painting the crosses might be ‘seeking confrontation’. Speaking on BBC Radio, he said: “You can obviously display a flag if that’s your choice but I don’t know, I do wonder about the times we’re living in.
“If people want to display it, fine on their own property, but I don’t think you’ve got the right to go out and paint public property.”
Pablo, who shared his footage on social media, told the M.E.N he is ‘proud to be British’ and encourages the flying of the flags ‘to support unity’, but that in the current climate it is being used intentionally ‘as bullying’.
“I had just come back from New York,” he said. “I had seen the previous day the flags on the motorway. The problem we have is the intention behind the way it’s being used.”
He claimed the flags are “being used as a prop for bullying and division”.
He added: “I was cycling from my home to the gym and was waiting at the lights when I saw these flags on the bridge. I carried my bike up the stairs and ripped the England one off, and then carefully took of the Union Jack flag with cable ties.
“As I was walking back down this guy came over to me, which was when the conversation started. When I saw him I knew it would be about that situation.
“I am sick of patriotism being stolen and used as a message of deliberate intimidation. I am proud of the UK and feel we have so much to be proud of. We are better than this.
“People are using this as a way to make genuine asylum seekers uncomfortable. Right now it’s not a symbol of welcoming those who need it.
“But if you fly it right now in that manner, it will upset people and evoke emotions. You only need to turn on the news for 10 seconds to see that.”