Revealed: Council that dubbed Brits who fly St George’s and Union Jack flags ‘far-right’

A London council which branded people who fly St George’s and Union Jack flags ‘far-right’ tore down almost 80 in a two-day removal spree, the Daily Mail can reveal. 

Tower Hamlets previously prided itself on its displays of Palestine banners but used metal poles to rip down England flags in the borough during the peak of the ‘Operation Raise the Colours’ movement. 

The east London authority disposed of 43 English and British flags on August 18, before pulling down a further 35 two days later.

No Palestinian flag has been removed since July 2024.    

Councillors, some dressed in pro-Palestinian garbs, passed a Labour-led motion this month which condemned those flying the national flag as ‘far right’ extremists. 

They warned that the borough, home to the asylum seeker Britannia Hotel where fiery anti-migrant protests took place throughout the summer, was plagued by ‘far-right agitators attempting to import division’.

The removal of St George’s flags was branded ‘outrageous’ by Susan Hall, the head of the Conservative group in the London Assembly, while Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said ‘this absurd national self-loathing must end’.

Tower Hamlets, led by mayor Lutfur Rahman of the pro-Palestine Aspire Party, previously refused to remove hundreds of Palestine flags that were hanging from lamp-posts and council buildings in the borough so as not to ‘destabilise community cohesion’.

One resident last year claimed there were 130 Palestinian flags within 500 metres of his house. He said he was advised against removing banners by police. 

Mr Rahman, who was previously found guilty of electoral fraud and spiritual intimidation of voters, finally ordered them to be removed last year after Jewish locals complained they were intimidating and divisive. 

But the last Palestinian flag to be removed was in July 2024, a Freedom of Information request obtained by the Daily Mail shows.

In contrast, the council swiftly moved to cut down St George’s flags in August, having received 22 public complaints, claiming it was ‘part of routine maintenance’.

Footage soon emerged of council workers using long metal poles to remove them from lamp-posts before putting them in storage, prompting fury.

Ms Hall, a former candidate for London mayor, said: ‘They’ve allowed Palestinian flags to fly there – why on earth are they taking England flags down?

‘If they accept other flags going up, why can’t they allow British ones?’

Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the council had got itself into an ‘unnecessary mess’.

‘The Cross of St George is part of the Union flag. British flags should be allowed to be put up because this is Britain,’ he said.

And David Simmonds, Shadow Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government, told the Mail: ‘Tower Hamlets Council dragged their feet on taking down unlawful Palestinian flags, yet the moment people put up the flag of England or Union Jacks they send staff out to rip them down.

‘Any two-tier perception – that councils turn a blind eye to foreign political banners but crack down on our national flags – is deeply corrosive to social cohesion. Where there are laws restricting what is put up on street furniture, they should be forced equally.

‘We should never be ashamed of our own national flags.’

Downing Street also backed people flying British or English flags in their local communities after they were removed by the council. 

While a council worker tasked with removing the flags in August said he was forced to stop because of the scale of abuse he and his colleague had been receiving from frustrated locals.

Tyrone, a cleaner for the council, was surrounded by agitated residents urging him to stop as he pulled them down.

‘This is a f***ing joke’ one of them shouted, before adding: ‘We’re going put them back up anyway.’

Tyrone told the Mail: ‘I was sent here by my managers to take these flags down.

‘I don’t know the significance of these flags but I’ve been taking them down and getting abuse by people who are telling me to “leave it!”.

‘They ask me, “What has Britain become?” and say “Don’t take them down” and “The mayor’s a w****r”.

‘And they get annoyed because they say the Palestinian flags were left up for weeks and months but the English flags have been removed straight away.

‘But I’m just doing my job and I’m not going to let them hinder me from what I am doing.

‘But my colleague is going [because of the abuse] and I need someone to watch my back while I’m doing this.’

He said they were forced to come back the following day at around 6.30am to remove the rest when there weren’t so many people around.

‘Palestinian, Jamaican, English whatever my job is to keep the road clean,’ he added.

Council officials in Tower Hamlets are so politicised that they sport pro-Palestinian lanyards handed out to them by their trade unions, one worried councilor said last year.

But the authority was eventually forced to remove Palestinian flags from council owned buildings following a legal challenge from campaign group UK Lawyers for Israel, who said they could ‘intimidate Jewish people’ and ‘encourage violence against them’. 

The Palestine flags were put up following the outbreak of war in Gaza before Mr Rahman, who was kicked out of office in 2015, announced that he had made the ‘difficult’ decision to order the removal of the flags after they became the focus of ‘media attacks’.

The most recent removal came on July 16 last year, with three taken down, while 977 have been removed by the council since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.

Tower Hamlets is not the only local authority to remove St George’s flags with Portsmouth City Council tearing them down and Derby City Council and South Gloucestershire Council pledging to take similar action in recent weeks. 

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’.

A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets council said: ‘We have a policy of removing flags when they appear on council infrastructure and we apply this policy consistently to all flags.

‘That is why we have removed approximately 1,055 flags between May 2024 and August 2025. Of these 977 were Palestinian Flags and 78 were Union Jack or St George’s flags.

‘Last year, a significant number of Palestinian flags were put up which is why they were removed. Over the past two-month St George’s and Union flags were put up which is why they were removed.

‘We understand people are passionate about flags, and they can fly flags on private property. We proudly fly many flags on our Town Hall to celebrate key national days.’