A London council has provoked fury after pledging to remove English or British flags tied to lampposts by patriotic campaigners.
Tower Hamlets Council in east London said any St George’s Crosses or Union flags put up as part of an online drive called ‘Operation Raise the Colours’ would be promptly taken down.
The movement has spread to towns and cities like Bradford, Newcastle, Norwich and Swindon – with activists putting up British flags in defiance of council bans – before putting them back up again if they are taken down.
Activists have been painting roundabouts in Birmingham in England colours after officials sparked fury last week by tearing down St George’s Crosses in the south of the city over claims they were a safety risk.
Operation Raise the Colours supporters were seen putting up England flags in Tower Hamlets last night, and this morning several were seen flying from lamposts in the area.
But the local council, which is run by Lutfur Rahman of the pro-Palestine Aspire Party, has become the second after Birmingham to vow to remove any flags tied to council property.
Tower Hamlets was previously criticised for letting Palestinian flags hang on council buildings and lampposts after Israel’s invasion of Gaza in 2023.
Mr Rahman – who was previously found guilty of electoral fraud – finally ordered them to be removed last year after Jewish locals complained they were intimidating and divisive.
‘Operation Raise the Colours’ demonstrators have begun setting up St George’s flags in Tower Hamlets
Tower Hamlets Council said any flags put up as part of the campaign would be taken down
England flags flying from lampposts in Tower Hamlets this morning
The council previously came under fire for allowing Palestinian flags to be displayed on council buildings and lampposts after the conflict in Gaza began (seen in 2024)
Robert Jenrick, the Shadow Justice Secretary, said allowing the flag of another country to fly in London, but not the St George’s Cross or Union flags, was an example of ‘absurd national self-loathing’.
‘Tower Hamlets council have allowed Palestinian flags to be publicly displayed on lampposts but not the flag of our country,’ he told The Telegraph.
‘This absurd national self-loathing must end. This is yet more two-tier bias against the British people. We must be one country united under the Union flag.’
Mr Rahman, the mayor of Tower Hamlets, was kicked out of office in 2015 after an election court found him guilty of a series of charges, including electoral fraud and spiritual intimidation of voters.
Approximately 39.9 per cent of people in the borough are Muslim, the largest proportion of any local authority area in the UK.
Previous displays of Palestine flags across the borough prompted a legal challenge from legal campaign group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), which said they could ‘intimidate Jewish people’ and ‘encourage violence against them‘.
Sue Reid for the Daily Mail revealed in a report last year how some local Jewish people were so frightened they were making plans to move.
‘We feel they would like to see the back of us,’ one successful Jewish woman in her 40s, who lives in the area, said. ‘Anti-Semitism is being normalised here in Tower Hamlets. The majority seem to think this is perfectly all right.’
One mother in her early 50s said: ‘I am the mother of a boy who goes to primary school in the borough. We have lived here for four years but we are leaving, even to go abroad, before he goes to secondary.’
Mr Rahman later announced in 2024 he had made the ‘difficult’ decision to order the removal of the flags after they became the focus of ‘media attacks’. He had previously rejected the suggestion they were symbols of division.
Shadow Home Secretary Robert Jenrick said Tower Hamlets flying Palestinian flags (as seen in 2024) but not British ones was an example of ‘absurd national loathing’
Hundreds of St George’s flags and Union Jacks were hung up around several areas in the south of Birmingham
Birmingham City Council claimed the flags represent a danger to both motorists and pedestrians and ordered for them to be removed
A number of St George’s flags have been put up across Tower Hamlets in recent days.
In response, a spokesman for the council vowed to remove them.
‘We are aware members of the public have been putting up St George’s flags on various structures,’ the spokesman said.
‘While we recognise people wish to express their views, we have a responsibility to monitor and maintain council infrastructure.
‘Where flags are attached to council-owned infrastructure without permission, they may be removed as part of routine maintenance.’
Operation Raise the Colours began on Facebook and has spread across the country.
It appears to have its roots in Birmingham, where scores of British flags sprung up in the suburb of Northfield.
Birmingham City Council quickly confirmed it would begin ripping them down and claimed they posed a safety risk despite flying high above the traffic.
A backlash to the decision deepened further after officials privately admitted they were too scared to take down Palestine flags without extra security.
In a leaked email obtained by the Mail, council cabinet member Majid Mahmood said of the Palestine flags hanging from lampposts in February: ‘We are taking these down, but we need the support of the police due to issues that have cropped (up) when we first tried to take them down.’
Critics also pointed out that the city’s library was being lit up in the colours of the Pakistan flag to mark the anniversary of the country’s independence, followed by the Indian flag.
The council lit up the Library of Birmingham in green and white to mark the anniversary of Pakistan’s independence day
The council has been accused of hypocrisy for failing to crack down on Palestine flags with the same vigour as the British flags
Government guidance published in 2021 states that flags ‘are a very British way of expressing joy and pride‘ and that they wanted to see ‘more flags flown, ‘particularly the Union flag’.
An extract from the guidance reads: ‘It is a symbol of national unity and pride. The government has recently issued guidance encouraging the flying of the Union Flag on all UK government buildings throughout the year, alongside other national and local flags.
‘We are keen for local authorities and other local organisations to follow suit. We have made it easier for the Union Flag to be flown alongside other flags, so organisations can highlight their local identities, as well as their national identities, and celebrate special days or events which champion civic pride.’
However, it also warns that flags must not ‘obscure, or hinder the interpretation of official road, rail, waterway or aircraft signs, or otherwise make hazardous the use of these types of transport’.
The Daily Mail has approached Tower Hamlets Council for comment.
