Where do our councils stand on flag-flying?

WE ASKED WHETHER THEY PLAN TO REMOVE NATIONAL SYMBOLS IN PUBLIC AREAS

- By LIAM THORP

IN RECENT months, national flags have been popping up all over Britain - including in many parts of Merseyside.

From the summer onwards, there have been a growing number of Union Flags and St George's flags 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.

On Merseyside, there have been a number of areas where national flags have been hung up in public areas, promoting a range of responses.

Last week, a local councillor confronted a group putting up England flags, which he said had racist slogans on them, in the Orrell Park and Walton Vale areas of North Liverpool.

Cllr Alan Gibbons said he was followed home and filmed after the confrontation and said he had asked Liverpool Council to take the flags down.

While the flags have prompted a variety of debates, some have been asking what the local policies are for people hanging them on public property such as lampposts.

With this in mind, we decided to ask each Merseyside council for their specific stance on flags.

Liverpool

There have been various examples of flags being flown in Liverpool, including in places like Park Road and in parts of the north of the city.

On its approach to flags being hung around the city, a spokesperson for Liverpool Council said it had previously removed a small number of flags from public streetlights.