Overview
- Ryan Bridge, a 44-year-old co-founder of Raise the Colours, was arrested in Oxfordshire on Tuesday, March 31, on suspicion of causing racially and religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress and later released on police bail.
- Thames Valley Police said the arrest is part of an ongoing investigation into public-order incidents on Abingdon Road in Oxford and urged people with relevant video not to post it online but to submit it directly to officers.
- Oxfordshire County Council served a legal notice that orders Raise the Colours to stop placing flags in the county, with the council leader calling the widespread installations an act that left residents feeling unsafe.
- Council teams continue to remove the Union and St George’s flags from lampposts and other street furniture and report abuse toward staff during removals, warning that further legal steps could follow.
- Raise the Colours says it aims to “cover Britain in flags,” while critics link the campaign to intimidation and the far right and some politicians, including Reform UK’s Richard Tice and Conservative MP Greg Smith, denounce the council’s stance as unpatriotic.