The local Labour MP said some constituents found the flags ‘unwelcoming’.
File image of a St George flag on a lamppost (Image: Getty)
A council in England has removed dozens of Union and St George flags from lampposts. Reform UK-led Leicestershire County Council said the flags were taken down because they were unsafe or in a “very poor condition”.
The council is one of several local authorities to have removed flags from lampposts and other street furniture over safety concerns. It comes after Union and St George flags started appearing on streets across the country last summer. Activists behind the movement said it is a display of patriotism, while critics accused them of sowing division amid heightened tensions over immigration.
Labour MP Jeevun Sandher said he renewed his call for flags in a poor condition to be removed (Image: House of Commons/Laurie Noble)
Labour MP for Loughborough Jeevun Sandher said he did not want to see flags “hanging tattily” from lampposts.
Mr Sandher, who previously called on the local authority to remove flags, said he had renewed his call for flags in a bad condition to be taken down, according to the BBC.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) flags should be flown “proudly” from flag poles, rather than being attached by cable ties to lampposts.
The MP also said some of his constituents found the flags “unwelcoming” because they made them feel “uncomfortable in their own community”.
Flags have been removed from different areas of Leicestershire, according to the LDRS, with more in Whitwick expected to be taken away.
Joseph Boam, Reform UK county councillor for the area, told the service: “I’m very much in favour of [flags] but not in favour of the ones that are ripped apart and look a mess.”
He said he believes the flags are “patriotic” and would prefer to see them replaced with new flags, rather than removed completely.
A Leicestershire County Council spokesperson said: “We will take down flags when they are unsafe or in very poor condition.
“We do ask people not to attach anything to lampposts or any other road equipment for safety reasons.”