'They make me feel so intimidated .. it feels like a statement'

RESIDENTS SHOCKED AFTER UNION JACKS GO UP IN DIVERSE COMMUNITY

- By LIAM THORP

A LARGE number of Union Flags have been hung from lampposts in Liverpool's most diverse post code, and the move is dividing opinion.

Some locals have described the flags as “intimidating” or said they have made them feel “uncomfortable’, while others - including people from a range of different backgrounds ~ have said they are happy to see them flying high in the area.

In recent weeks, a growing number of Union Flags and St George’s Flags have been going up in cities, towns and villages as part of what appears to be a wider movement that supporters have said is being done to show national pride, but for others has been causing concern.

Much of that concern has come from the fact that the proliferation of flags on buildings, roadsides and around communities has come during a period of unrest and tension in the country.

The British summer was dominated by anti-immigration protests outside asylum hotels where many of those protesting have been draped in - or waving - either of the nation’s flags.

So when about 17 Union Flags were suddenly put up along Park Road in the middle of Liverpool 8 - the city’s most multicultural of areas - the question was, how did it make local people feel?

It appears that the flags were hung up along the nearly 1km stretch of Park Road on Monday night, with some questioning whether the fact they were put up late on provided some insight into the motives of those involved.