Councils have been told to ‘hang their heads in shame’ after it emerged that they spent over £100,000 of taxpayers’ money taking down St George’s and Union Jack flags.
An FOI request revealed that the cash-strapped councils across the UK spent thousands on paying contractors to take down the flags, which had been put up by many locals last year.
A total of 47 councils collectively spent £115,115,35 on removing English and British flags from lamp posts and council-owned properties – with the biggest spenders being the London Borough of Bromley, who paid a shocking £13,500 to employ 12 people to remove them from just two roundabouts in one night.
Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, called the findings a ‘disgrace’, telling the Telegraph: ‘The English and Union flags are proud, unifying symbols of our nation.
‘Yet Tory, Labour and Lib Dem councils are ripping them down and wasting tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money to do it. It’s nothing short of a disgrace.
‘Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems should hang their heads in shame for squandering public cash to erase British identity.’
Tory-led councils spent the most on flag removals, with their councils spending a total of £43,359.96.
Labour-led councils came second, spending around £35,000, while Liberal Democrat-controlled councils spent just under £25,000.
Councils have collectively spent over £100,000 on removing St George’s Cross and Union Jack flags, an FOI has revealed
Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, called the findings a ‘disgrace’ and told councils to ‘hang their heads in shame’
Data also showed that Bromley’s council also paid contractor Festive Lighting almost £14,000 to remove scores of English and British flags over three days during the same month as the £13,500 payment.
Meanwhile, Oxfordshire county council spent more than £15,000 removing 330 flags from lamp posts across the county – equating to an average cost of roughly £45 per flag.
Bexley council was also among the worst spenders, spending over £14,000 since January 2020 on removing flags.
Rutland county council paid contractors £110 to remove a single flag, and Shropshire council paid a firm around £1,760 for flag removals that worked out as roughly £80 per flag.
John O’Connell, the chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, told the Telegraph: ‘Councils crying poverty while splurging thousands to take down the Union Flag is an insult to taxpayers and to basic common sense.’
The news comes as councils across the country collectively owe almost £150billion in debt.
Flags became scattered around UK towns in public places during the grassroots campaign known as ‘Operation Raise the Colours’ last summer, whereby thousands of St George’s Cross and Union Jack flags were erected in public spaces.
Many councils objected to the flags at the time as ‘safety hazards’ while others argued they were ‘unsightly’ and could not be maintained.
