“The challenges facing our country will not be solved through division or grievance”
Flags on West Street in Bedminster in September – inset Karin Smyth, Bristol South MP(Image: Bristol Post)
South Bristol’s MP has called on the people who have been put up scores of St George and Union Jack flags on lampposts across her constituency to keep them up for Remembrance Day next month, but take them down after that. Karin Smyth MP said she has been contacted by an ‘increasing number’ of people in South Bristol expressing concern about the flags, which had been ‘unlawfully placed’ on council-owned infrastructure.
In a statement, the Labour MP said she backed the flying of flags to celebrate or commemorate events – from England playing in the World Cup to Remembrance Day – but said the current proliferation of flags in the street on council property like lampposts were ‘seen by many to be divisive and racist’, because those behind the campaign were ‘seeking to exploit legitimate worries’ about issues.
South Bristol has seen some of the most controversy over the ‘Raise the Colours’ campaign since it began in late August and early September. Residents in some areas have overwhelmingly backed those tying flags to lampposts, while residents of other areas – notably in Bedminster – have countered with teddy bears tied to lampposts with messages of welcome and hope, posters celebrating the area’s multi-cultural community, or simply by taking the flags down again.
South Gloucestershire Council has hired contractors to take flags down, sometimes in the middle of the night – the campaigners claim – after council leaders there issued a statement saying the flags were a divisive campaign, but Bristol City Council ’s policy has been to allow the flags to remain and only take them down if they are a safety hazard or on a case-by-case basis.
Those putting up the flags are open about why they are doing it – citing anti-immigration, anti-Government and other far-right messages. In West Street, which has been repeatedly targeted, police are investigating Islamophobic graffiti sprayed on a bus stop soon after the third time flags were raised on lampposts there.
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In Bedminster, police were called to a confrontation between local residents taking flags down and those who had put them up, and Karin Smyth said she had been contacted by an ‘increasing number’ of people expressing concern.
Her solution was for the flags to stay up as part of a Remembrance Day commemoration – it is the 80th anniversary of Britain defeating fascism in World War Two this year – but to come down after that.
“For the past few weeks, I have been contacted by an increasing number of residents living in Bristol South expressing concern about the growing number of flags unlawfully placed on lamp posts and other council-owned infrastructure,” she said.
Bristol South MP Karin Smyth(Image: ©House of Commons https://members.parliament.uk/member/4444/portrait)
“I know that many residents display the Cross of St George or other national flags proudly at their home and have done so for many years. I am also sure that during next year’s men’s football World Cup finals we will see flags from a number of nations flying across the constituency, as they did during the recent women’s Rugby World Cup.
“Celebratory or commemorative displays of flags, which show support for one of our national (or local) sports teams, national events such as a royal wedding or for Remembrance Sunday bring us together,” she added.
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“There are those in Bristol seeking to exploit legitimate worries about housing, the cost of living and other issues by blaming those not in any way responsible. It is in this climate that the flags on lamp posts are seen by many to be divisive and racist.
“I would therefore ask those who climbed up ladders to put the flags in place, to take them down following Tuesday Il November.
“The challenges facing our country will not be solved through division or grievance. Communities in South Bristol, ignored by previous right-wing governments, are now getting genuine help to thrive. I want everyone in our city to have the same opportunities. People will have seen recent announcements on the cash coming to Hartcliffe, the £50m investment in Knowle, new educational opportunities from the University of Bristol and action on the cost of living
“It is by working together as a community that we can achieve great things, not by being divided,” she added.
