St George’s Cross and Union Jack flags have appeared across the Northfield area in recent weeks. Beginning in Weoley Castle, the scene juxtaposes other areas of the city where flags of other countries are commonly seen on the streets, flying from buildings and lamp posts.
Birmingham City Council has responded to press enquiries by saying, "People who attach unauthorised items to lampposts could be putting their lives and those of motorists and pedestrians at risk. Placing unauthorised attachments on street furniture, particularly tall structures like lampposts, can be dangerous”, according to the Birmingham Mail.
The Council have asked that workers upgrading lamp posts with new LED lights are allowed to go about their work, including removing the Union Jack and St George’s Cross flags in Northfield, unhindered, and that this work would begin “imminently”.
However, despite the Labour Council's rush to take down our national flags, when it comes to other fly posting, even at road junctions, the Council has been clear that they will not rush to act.
When Cllr Robert Alden (Con, Erdington), Leader of the Opposition and Birmingham Local Conservatives, reported flyposting partially covering traffic lights at the Yenton junction – a situation posing a highway safety risk – the Council's Highways Operator responded by saying it takes the Council up to 6 months to remove flyposting.
Cllr Alden commented,
When there was a clear highway threat, with flyposting partially covering traffic lights, the Labour-run Council felt that 6 months was an acceptable timescale for taking action. Which is clearly a ridiculous length of time. Yet when our national flag is flown in public spaces, something we should all be able to take pride in and should foster a sense of shared identity, history, and community, Labour become desperate to rip it down as quickly as possible.
Cllr Alden continued,
Evidently, the Labour Administration only care about things attached to lamp posts when it's our national flag. We want to be crystal clear – it is absolutely unacceptable for the Council to prioritise the removal of our national flag, in locations where it is not causing an immediate risk, over clearing flyposting, which is a blight on so many roads across the city – especially at traffic junctions. We are calling on the Council to commit to clearing all the flyposting in the City before they even think about touching a St George’s Cross or Union Jack flag flying.
Cllr Alden concluded,
While the Council has a duty, longer term, to ensure that items attached to lampposts cannot become loose and fall onto the road to cause accidents, it is clear that Birmingham Labour had no problem leaving other flags up over the last two years. It is only now that the flags going up are St George's Cross and Union Jacks that Labour deem it urgent that they are removed - shameful.
