{"id":357007,"date":"2025-08-19T14:28:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T14:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/357007\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T14:28:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T14:28:12","slug":"authorities-in-england-work-to-remove-union-flags-erected-on-lampposts-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/357007\/","title":{"rendered":"Authorities in England work to remove union flags erected on lampposts \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

An increase in the flying of flags from lampposts in England that has seen stretches of road resemble those in parts of Northern Ireland is being defied by two local councils.<\/p>\n

Both Tower Hamlets Council in London and Birmingham<\/a> City Council have removed union flags and flags bearing the cross of St George in recent days, following a campaign to increase the number of British emblems that has been linked to the hard right in the UK.<\/p>\n

The Operation Raise the Colours campaign, which is being promoted on social media platforms, is encouraging people to hang flags from lampposts across England.<\/p>\n

Backed by the Reform party and right wing organisations including Turning Point UK, the campaign has led to groups of men with ladders roaming the streets at night in scenes similar to loyalist and other areas in the north that are bedecked with unauthorised flags.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/a>\"Ballyclare<\/a><\/p>\n

Images inspired by the campaign are also being shared showing St George\u2019s flags painted on a roundabout and a road.<\/p>\n

Footage also shows that some of the flags are being hung after Palestinian flags are removed.<\/p>\n

In Northern Ireland, lampposts are owned by the Department for Infrastructure <\/a>(DfI), which often refuses to remove flags or banners erected without permission.<\/p>\n

\"UDAA UDA flag and an Ulster banner flag flying in east Belfast. <\/p>\n

In correspondence with a resident of Coleraine<\/a> in 2023 regarding the unauthorised flying of emblems, the department explained it only acts on flags on its street furniture when they create road safety concerns, or take them down \u201cwhere there is clear community support for their removal and where we are satisfied that removing them will not raise local community tensions or present risks to the safety of our staff and contractors\u201d.<\/p>\n

With paramilitary flags, the DfI is often contacted by police, who have said they retain \u201coperational discretion as to what action to take in terms of removal\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, paramilitary flags remain visible across the north, and earlier this year UDA flags remained flying close to a PSNI station in east Belfast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, in England, where lampposts are mostly owned by councils, two local authorities are acting to remove the newly erected flags, despite opposition from those behind the campaign.<\/p>\n

In Birmingham, the council is taking flags down while upgrading lampposts with new energy-efficient LED lighting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWork is due to begin imminently, and lamp columns need to remain free from attachments so work can be carried out as quickly and safely as possible,\u201d a spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cLampposts and other street furniture need to be protected which is why highways staff across the city removed around 200 advertising banners and flags that had been attached to lampposts since the start of this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey take down attachments from lampposts routinely, including advertising signs, bunting trails and flags.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who attach unauthorised items to lampposts could be putting their lives and those of motorists and pedestrians at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

They warned of risks including decreased visibility for motorists as a result of flags and the danger of items falling onto the road.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in London\u2019s Tower Hamlets, which has one of the highest Muslim populations of any local authority area in England, council workers have been seen using shears on long poles to remove flags.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we recognise people wish to express their views, we have a responsibility to monitor and maintain council infrastructure,\u201d a Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhere flags are attached to council-owned infrastructure without permission, they may be removed as part of routine maintenance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An increase in the flying of flags from lampposts in England that has seen stretches of road resemble…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[855,748,393,24085,4884,257,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-357007","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-flags","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-london","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115055906538754592","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}