A Cumbrian council will develop a policy for lamppost flags.
Cumberland Council Conservative member Gareth Ellis put forward a motion at this week’s full council meeting, asking for consistent safety rules for lamppost flags.
It was seconded by Tory Mike Johnson and passed unanimously by the authority.
The motion also asked that the council noted that other authorities have kept St George’s and Union flags on lampposts while addressing safety issues.
Cllr Ellis said they did not want residents to be hanging flags ‘willy nilly’ and there needed to be the same criteria as council displays.
Cllr Johnson said it was aimed at fairness, consistency and respect for the flags, as well as unity, clarity and common sense, and it was important that residents knew how to express themselves properly.
Councillor Lisa Hinton (Currock, Labour), the adult social care portfolio holder, said she would be happy to look at the policy and added: “We just need to do this properly.”
However, she said she was disturbed by some of the comments on recent press coverage of the proposed motion from members of the public and there had been a spread of misinformation on the subject. She added: “I don’t stand for our flag being used for hate and division.”
Council leader Mark Fryer agreed it was not about creating division and some ethnic residents were feeling threatened by the national flag raising campaign which some have claimed has racist motives. He added: “Racism is a scourge.”
Members agreed to make minor changes to the wording of the motion but councillor Brian Wernham (Stanwix Urban, Lib Dems) suggested that research into the implications of the changes would have to be carried out before they voted.
However, he was advised that the changes were minor so the research was not required.
Councillor Joseph Ghayouba (Bransty, Labour) said he had just returned from a holiday in Turkey where lots of national flags were flown as part of the celebrations to mark the anniversary of the creation of the country and he said: “I didn’t feel excluded.”
However, when he returned to the UK there were St George’s flags everywhere and he was also disturbed by comments on the subject. He said they were ‘not about national pride’ in flags.
He said he was initially concerned by the motion and added: “People like me feel excluded and not British.
“My main worry with this motion was that it will open the floodgates to people that feel very emboldened.” He described the current culture war as ‘nonsense’ and added: “We are better than that.”
When it was put to the vote every member gave it their backing and it is understood the policy will be fully scrutinised by councillors as it is developed.
Speaking after the decision, Cllr Ellis said: “I think it’s important that people can fly flags from lampposts.
“Also that they don’t cause any kind of graffiti or vandalism.
“So this is about enabling people to fly their flags and to be proud and to be able to do that when they still wish in their community, but not graffiti or vandalism. And we should be proud to be British. Other nations regularly fly their flags, and we shouldn’t be ashamed to do so.”
According to the motion the authorities include the City of York, which stated it would not remove flags except near the racecourse during events, and Worcestershire, which allowed lamppost flags but acted on painted roundabouts as vandalism.
