Oxfordshire council seeks injunction over flags tied to lamp-posts across county

Oxfordshire county council is seeking an injunction against the Raise the Colours campaign group after England flags were tied to lamp-posts across the county. The campaign has been putting up flags across the country since August last year, and there is a particular proliferation of them in and around Oxford. Though the campaign has said it is motivated by pride and patriotism, the flag raising has been linked to anti-immigration protests. The county has so far spent £15,000 to remove more than 300 union and St George’s cross flags from lampposts. The leader of the flag group, the Birmingham-based Ryan Bridge, was arrested in April on suspicion of causing religiously and racially aggravated harassment. This happened shortly after he and his group filmed themselves raising flags around Oxfordshire Residents have complained online about the flags, saying they look “awful”, particularly at Headington roundabout on the outskirts of Oxford. Some locals have been putting up flags of other countries, including Ireland and Jamaica, alongside the England flags, in protest. Oxfordshire county council in April issued a legal notice banning the group from putting up flags, arguing it was an “act of intimidation and division”. But the flag raising has continued, so the council is seeking an injunction at the high court, which will be heard on 23 June. …