Minister expresses pride for St George and Union flags festooned in Derbyshire during UK immigration debate

Devolution Minister Jim McMahon has told, during a recent visit to Derbyshire, how he is proud of the St George and Union flags as a form of national identity and he sees them as positive despite the growing concerns of their symbolism in light of the UK immigration crisis.

Mr McMahon was visiting Gamesley, near Glossop, to launch the East Midlands Combined County Authority’s Community Development Fund for deprived areas on September 4 when the minister, the East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward and High Peak MP Jon Pearce arrived along streets festooned with the flags on lampposts. 

The Labour Minister of State for Local Government and Devolution, who is also an MP for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton, said: “We have flown them in Parliament Square. I am very proud of our flags, I do think, from an identity point of view, because they are something we can rally around, and they are a form of identity and they are positive.”

However, the flag movement has triggered continued debate since it has gathered momentum in Gamesley, Chesterfield, Staveley, and Matlock and elsewhere in Derbyshire as well as across the UK after the launch of the Operation Raise the Colours campaign.

Some see the proliferation of the flags as an embodiment of national pride and patriotism while others, in light of the immigration crisis, see them as symbols of right-wing politics, prejudice and even ill-feeling towards illegal immigrants and minority groups and as a provocation towards those who sympathise with such groups.

In Fulwood, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, the overnight arrival of St George and Union flags between Saturday, September 6th, and Sunday, September 7th, immediately created a backlash where some argued the symbolism did not reflect the views or the community and by Monday, September 8th, the flags had been removed.

Mr McMahon said: “Immigration is a big concern for people and the Government has faced that and the Government has addressed the small boat crossings and the use of hotels [to house immigrants] which have been sky-rocketing.”

Melandra Castle Road, in Gamesley, and the route between Chesterfield and Staveley has been lined with St George and Union flags – as well as a painted cross on a roundabout in Staveley – while other areas across Derbyshire and the UK have been similarly festooned.

Matlock Town Council has put up the rainbow LGBTQ Pride flags, union flags and county flags and there was some outcry when the Christian bookshop in the town asked for the Pride flag outside its store to be taken down.

Some shops in Matlock, home to the county council, have also appeared to be putting up Rainbow Pride flags possibly in response to the county council’s removal of their former rainbow flags which flew under the former Conservative-controlled county council.

As a possible counter reaction to the swathe of rainbow flags in Matlock some shops have also been putting up the Union Flag too.

Reform UK-controlled Derbyshire County Council, which operates as the county’s highways authority, said in August that there were no plans to remove the Union and St George flags from lampposts or roundabouts across the county and they would only remove them if they posed a danger to the public.

But Labour-led Derby City Council has asked people not to paint on roundabouts and it has stated that it recognises the importance of the flags as ‘symbols of national identity’.

Conservative County Council Leader, Cllr Alex Dale, has said his party supports the ‘pragmatic stance’ that the Reform-UK led council has taken.

Labour NE Derbyshire MP Louise Sandher-Jones, a former army officer and a veteran of the War in Afghanistan, said that the flags cannot be used ‘to divide us’ because she and others are proud to be English and British and care for their communities and love their country.

But she urged people to get permission to hang flags on property that does not belong to them and not to mess with street signs or markings because that can create safety issues.

Staveley Town Cllr Paul Mann, a Falklands War Royal Navy veteran, said: “Those who use the flag of St George to divide us have not asked me if I wanted the flag – the white Ensign I fought and served under in 1982 – to be used like some are.”

He added that he agrees the flag should be flown high but he questioned whether any of those who have taken to the streets to erect the flags or even if Reform UK Party Leader MP Nigel Farage had considered the Nepalese Gurkhas and those from the Windrush immigration generation who both fought in the armed forces for the UK.

Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer has stated that he is very encouraging of people flying national flags but has also said they can be devalued when flown ‘purely for divisive purposes’.

Cllr Alex Dale said: “We support the pragmatic stance the council has taken. Unless there are clear safety concerns, the St George’s and Union flags should be left in place. It is important that people are able to show national pride, and the flying of our flags in public spaces is part of that. To remove them unnecessarily would feel like an insult to many people across Derbyshire.”

Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Potholes, Highways and Transport, Cllr Charlotte Hill, has also previously stated that the authority follows a ‘risk-based’ approach in line with its highways policy.

She added that if the county council is made aware that flags have been attached to lampposts it will assess these to see if they pose a danger to the public and only remove them if they do so, and that it was ‘highly unlikely’ the council would remove the ‘majority’ of flags.

Cllr Hill explained that the council’s highways policy sets out a risk-based approach to managing these sorts of issues including flags being attached to street lights or painted on roundabouts to make sure roads and pavements are safe.

Derby City Council’s Cabinet Member for Cost of Living, Equalities and Communities, said the city council understands and shares the pride its residents feel in being British and it flies the Union flag outside its Council House.

But she has urged people not to paint over roundabouts for traffic safety reasons or on any property not owned by them.

A Derbyshire Constabulary spokesperson said: “Freedom of speech and expression is a fundamental right anyone living in the UK is entitled to. As a force we recognise and support that freedom of speech.

“The flying of flags is not a matter for the force but where criminal damage has been reported to us by local authorities or landowners then these incidents will be investigated in the usual manner.”

Derbyshire County Council, Chesterfield Borough Council and High Peak Borough Council have all been offered an opportunity to comment further on the matter given the concerns surrounding the proliferation of the flags in the region but at the time of publication they had not yet commented.