Oxfordshire has become the first council to start a legal battle to ban residents from raising Union and St George flags on or near public highways due to the “distress” they cause. The Telegraph has the story.
The Liberal Democrat-led county council applied for a High Court injunction to stop people placing the flags.
St George’s crosses and Union flags have been placed on motorway bridges and lamp-posts across the country since last summer’s Raise the Colours campaign spread on social media.
Councils prompted criticism when they acted to remove the flags and painted over St George’s flag markings on roundabouts.
Oxfordshire county council has taken the fight a step further, writing on Wednesday: “Residents across Oxfordshire, from Adderbury to Wallingford, have complained to the council about safety risks, intimidation and distress linked to this activity.
“The ongoing scale and persistence of the behaviour by Raise the Colours has created safety risks, caused distress within communities, and led to abuse and intimidation directed at council teams and residents.”
However, some have questioned the action at a time when football fans wish to express their support for national teams during the World Cup, in which England play their opening game on Wednesday night.
Liam Walker, a Conservative councillor, told the Telegraph: “With the World Cup now under way and communities across the country coming together to support their national teams, many residents will also question whether this is really the right time to be escalating matters further through the courts.
“Common sense and proportionality should always guide decision-making, particularly when the costs involved are ultimately borne by taxpayers.”
The High Court hearing will take place in London on June 23rd. If the legal effort succeeds, anyone who puts up flags near public highways in the area could face up to two years in prison or a substantial fine.
Worth reading in full.
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Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
And Palestinian flags? Are they also to be made illegal by Oxfordshire council because of the “safety risks, intimidation and distress” they cause?
Banning your own country’s flag! Now that is the very definition of cloud Cookoo land! The rest of the world must be thinking we have finally lost the plot! And I guess they would be right!
Well that is what comes of Ed Davey falling on his head too often during election campaigns.
He is living a second or third childhood.
He started out reasonably with a jet ski but rapidly regressed to running around a garden grasping a bit of pole with a wooden horse’s head stuffed between his legs. It might have something to do with his jerks on the bungee jump affecting his brain.
The Speaker of the Commons has created a safe space on the floor for him to play quietly with nice coloured wood building blocks.
Specifically the Union Jack and the George Cross? But the Scottish Saltire and the Welsh flag are okay? Scots and Taffies, you know what to do…
There are a lot of flags I find offensive but I guess the Lib Dems in Oxfordshire are quite happy with them.
Should people start complaining about them?
Absolutely. Starting with the Oxfordshire County Council coat of arms, followed by Lib Dem colours.
“Residents across Oxfordshire, from Adderbury to Wallingford, have complained to the council about safety risks, intimidation and distress linked to this activity.”
I wonder if these complaints are as genuine as Democrat votes in California.
I’m sure one or two woketards have complained. It needs large numbers patriots to contact the council saying how much they appreciate the flags and don’t want to see them removed even though woke councils are pretty unlikely to listen to these opinions.
During the 2022 Aragalaya protests, the Sri Lankan people set fire to the private residences and offices of over 50 politicians when the Sri Lankan government tried to ban social media and industrial fertilizer. People of Oxford – be more Sri Lankan.
Sooner or later we’re gonna have to start burning down council offices, prefetably when they’re empty (we’re not leftards).
They cannot keep ignoring us.
Pathetic really
There’s already bye-laws that make it a civil offence to attach flags to council owned property such as lamp posts and so far no one has been fined for doing so.
What difference does the council think it’s going to make if it becomes a criminal offence? Hopefully patriots will just put flags up at night or cover their faces so they can’t be identified by CCTV.
Speaking of doing benign things that might get you put away for two years, another looney law here. I wonder if he promised to tip 200 bags of dangerous junk back into the river it’d even things up, or would he incur further punishment? Handy he’s a lawyer, I suppose. Anyone know the penalty for fly tipping? The irony…poor bloke. ”No good deed goes unpunished”;
”A barrister is facing prosecution by the Environment Agency for pulling rubbish out of a local river. Paul Powlesland, 40, and a group of volunteers took matters into their own hands to clear a section of the River Roding in Barking, East London.
The group hired a digger for £1,000 and filled over 200 bags of rubbish including packaging, needles, domestic appliances and even weapons. However, shortly after the clean-up, Paul received a letter from the Environment Agency (EA) notifying him he was under investigation for operating without a licence.
The offence carries a maximum punishment of two years in prison, and he could also lose his job as an environmental lawyer.”
https://www.mylondon.news/news/east-london-news/environmental-lawyer-facing-up-2-34142593
Absolute raving pants-on-head lunacy.
Not shocked. Bureaucrats are essentially authoritarians that care about being obeyed way above anything else.
Not having that very present in one’s mind means going through life confused at all the constant contradictions and malice emanating from the state bureaucracy.
So if I scooped a few empty crisp packets out of a river and binned them, would I too be subjected to investigation for “operating without a licence”?
What may and could easily happen is that the authorities do the modern day equivalent of putting someone in the stocks. And that is, they find one transgressor, hound them down and destroy their lives in the most public way possible to make them an example to everyone else.
And everyone will get the message – we have the power to make you pay and we’re are willing to be ruthless, so don’t cross us – and for the nth time, everyone will meekly and obediently carry on.
Sorry, but what country do we live in where a bunch of local officials (elected or otherwise) have the power to prohibit a form of expression such as waving a flag?
If people don’t stand up to this brazen authoritarianism, then honestly the public deserves everything it gets.
What should really happen is that these tyrants should get a really, really stern response because their abuse of people’s good faith and good nature to try to get along is getting way out of hand.
I love the way the haters of our country and our people talk about “safety”. But at least they are completely out in the open now.
Yes, they are so confident that they don’t even try to hide their evil anymore. Only seven months ago they were doing this:
Oxford Town Hall flies Palestine flag in twin city visit | Oxford Mail
Oxford Town Hall flies Palestine flag for Ramallah Mayor visit – Cherwell
LibDem council. Say no more.
Notice the two-year prison sentence … the same as that Evil Marxist protester got for sledgehammering the spine of a police officer!
Sadly it perfectly sums up “progressive”/woke thinking i.e.
Sledgehammers and stones can break bones
But it’s words and flags that really hurt.
How many residents have complained (they don’t say)?
Probably 1 is enough for these Marxists to spring into action, and protect the unworthy!
They keep voting them in, you reap what you sow!
Only 163 people voted LibDem in Makerfield. Still 163 too many, but an interesting contrast with the south of England
Anyone can ask for copies of the complaints under FOI. The complainants’ details will be redacted but you will see the complaints – if there are any that is. You can also ask for the complaints about them flying the wrong flags and about them banning our national flags.
Imagine moving to Italy and complaining to the local Italian council that the National Flag of Italy caused you “distress”, “intimidation” and “safety risks”, and Italians should be banned from displaying it, and thrown into prison if they flouted the ban !!!
What do you think the Italians would say?
It starts with “va” and finishes with “fanculo”.
Our response needs to be the same.
The response would be similar in my home country, apart from linguistic differences.
‘Good luck in the arena against the gladiator’.
Nice one! 🙂
FRO or the Italian equivalent!