Overview
- Video published this week shows council workers using long poles to take flags off lamp-posts, prompting fresh criticism of the removals.
- Tower Hamlets says it removed 78 Union Jack and St George’s flags over August 18–19 during the height of the Operation Raise the Colours campaign, according to a Daily Mail FOI cited by outlets.
- Councillors passed a motion last week describing the campaign as led by far-right extremists and warning that masked men raised flags after dark to intimidate residents.
- The council reports approximately 1,055 flag removals between May 2024 and August 2025, including 977 Palestinian flags and 78 national flags, under a policy covering council infrastructure.
- Opposition figures accuse the authority of double standards, noting Palestinian flags stayed up for months in 2023–24, while Tower Hamlets maintains residents may display flags on private property and that the Town Hall marks key national days.