Woke council tears down St George’s flags over ‘safety risk’ | UK | News

A council has removed more than 1,000 St George and Union flags because they pose a safety risk. Surrey County Council’s Conservative leader said a total of 1,003 flags connected to local authority infrastructure were destroyed.

Councilor Tim Oliver said flags were still attached to highway infrastructure, such as lampposts, and the council was aware of more than 300 flags erected between December and mid-February alone. He said this “remains an ongoing challenge, not just in Surrey but across the country”. The council leader said: “Surrey’s approach has not changed and is on our website.

“Our contractor prioritizes and removes any flags that pose an immediate safety risk. All other flags are handled as part of routine highway maintenance activities.”

“To date, we have removed 1,003 flags from the network and estimate approximately 308 flags remain.”

In a statement in September, the council said that while it recognized the importance of the flags, they could pose a security risk.

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He said all flags attached to lampposts must be approved by the authority and that unauthorized flags “can pose a risk to both motorists and pedestrians”.

“It is our standard procedure to remove them,” he added.

Cllr Oliver’s comments came in response to a question from Green Party Redhill East councilor Jonathan Essex.

Claiming the flags were “frightening”, he called on the council to do more to remove them.

Commander Essex said flags in one area, rather than being raised, were “increasingly falling apart, disordered but remaining in place”.

He said: “It is clear that Surrey County Council’s current policy is not working.

“Instead, the continued presence of these flags and the failure to remove them from the public highway amounts to consent, giving tacit legitimacy to their intimidating presence, while Surrey County Council states its desire to be a county where no one is left behind.”

The widespread flying of flags across the country began last year following an online movement called Operation Raise the Colors.

While activists in the movement say displaying the flags is patriotic, critics have accused them of sowing division amid rising tensions over immigration.

In his question on Tuesday, Major Oliver also referred to another councilor who raised concerns that the council’s “inaction” on removing flags illegally attached to lampposts was “undermining community cohesion by encouraging those who use the threat of violence to get their way”.

He said: “In response the Cabinet member confirmed that the Surrey County Council contractor had been instructed not to remove the flags immediately to avoid increasing local hostility and that wholesale removal of the flags would be extremely difficult – if not impossible – due to the strength of local feeling.

“Therefore, the approach taken was to prioritize the immediate removal of flags deemed to pose a safety risk, with the remaining flags addressed as part of routine maintenance.”

He added: “The current situation is creating a new normal where such misuse of public assets is tolerated.”

The removal of the flags was met with a mixed reaction from the people of Surrey.

One person said on social media: “Flags all over Horley need to be removed, they have made the whole area unpleasant, people are staying away from the town and laughing at the disgusting, mindless motives of residents.”

But according to Great Britain NewsSome also expressed their support for the flags, insisting that they show pride for the country.

“Flying the flag is about celebrating everything that is British, local and full of heart,” one of them said.