A police officer has been accused of ‘two-tier’ policing after snatching a Union Jack flag from a teenage girl’s hands at an anti-migrant demonstration where Palestine flags were allowed to fly.
Hundreds of protesters marched through Newcastle city centre on Saturday because of what they described as a lack of government action on illegal immigration.
Heavy police presence and a crowd of counter-protesters from Stand Up to Racism saw tensions rise, with three arrests made over breach of the peace.
Now, Northumbria Police are facing criticism over footage of their liaison officers swiping a Union Jack flag from the hands of a 16-year-old girl.
Footage shows the teenager standing on a table proudly waving the flag in front of a group of counter protestors, as a female officer tried to speak to her before a male colleague intervened by swooping in and grabbing the flag.
The girl can be seen clutching her flag tightly as he yanked it from her before walking off whilst the policewoman held her back.
Boos and cries of anger erupted from the crowd as the person filming asked: ‘Why did you do that?’
The incident comes amid Operation Raise the Colours, a movement that has seen communities across the country hanging Union and St George’s flags in their streets, including in Bradford, Newcastle, Norwich and the Isle of Wight, as a display of national pride.
Footage posted on social media shows the Police Liaison Officer snatching the Union Jack flag from the 16-year-old girl’s hands
The girl had been standing on a table proudly waving the flag during the protest as a female police officer spoke to her
The stony-faced Police Liaison Officer then appeared to reply: ‘Because you’re being a div.’
When he was asked if the girl would get her flag back, he said: ‘She’s not getting it, no.’
Responding to the video on X, one user wrote: ‘But don’t you dare fly the English flag or Union Jack!!!! Two tier policing is alive and well throughout the UK.’
Another said: ‘Yes, this is two tier policing. They wouldn’t dare go near anyone with a Palestine Flag, let alone snatch it from them. To go after a young white girl with a Union Jack is pure and utter cowardice and such appalling policing. What a tough guy, eh…’
‘Had it been a Palestinian flag or any other flag the police would have done nothing,’ a third wrote.
Another asked: ‘Whose side are the police on?’
‘I find this difficult to believe that police in Britain violently remove UK flag. A once great nation brought low. Sigh,’ another wrote.
In a statement, Northumbria Police said: ‘We are aware of video clips circulating online in relation to an officer removing a flag from someone during protest activity in Newcastle on Saturday (August 27).
‘It is important that these are put into context. To help keep people safe and minimise disruption, orders were put in place designating where protest activity could be held.
‘Key to this was maintaining an area between protest groups. From the video, it appears that when a small number of people became close to a much larger protest group, action was taken to deescalate tensions and help ensure the safety of all present.
‘We can confirm the flag was later returned. We have received a number of complaints in relation to this matter, which will be looked into.
‘Throughout the day, officers responded to both planned and spontaneous protest activity and we will be reviewing what happened to identify any potential learning.
‘We recognise the right to lawful protest is the key part of democracy which policing will uphold. In doing so the safety of everyone is our utmost priority and the activity on Saturday passed mainly without incident.’
The Daily Mail’s US Political Reporter Victoria Churchill said this week that she ‘couldn’t imagine this happening in the US’.
She added: ‘I think I read some additional reporting on this that they allow just about every other country’s flag except the Union Jack in the UK.
‘And I think pride in your country, whether that’s in the US or in the UK, should not be a controversial thing.’
Ms Churchill also praised the young girl for ‘standing up for her values’.
She said: ‘Wanting to stand for the values that you were brought up with and wanting to carry them on into the next generation, especially younger voters, I think that that is a welcoming thing to see.
‘Because so many youth, again, whether that’s in the US or the UK, are being brainwashed into this multiculturalism, they are seeing the negatives of it, but of course, there’s positives to it as well.’
It comes after a parent was arrested in a secondary school reception and detained by police for eight hours after he went to complain about a lesson where a teacher told pupils St George flags could be viewed as a ‘racist symbol’.
Broadoak School, in Partington, Greater Manchester, has launched an investigation into comments allegedly made to pupils on Friday morning following complaints by parents.
The man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker when he joined others to complain to the school on Monday.
The parent, who the Daily Mail is not naming, described how he was detained for eight hours, interviewed and then released without charge.
After he was released, he said he had gone to the school to remove his 12-year-old daughter because of concerns she would be branded ‘racist’.
The father-of-two said both he and his daughter had also attended protests at the Cresta Court Hotel in nearby Altrincham which houses asylum seekers.
He said: ‘She’s been with me and made good friends there. We stand united for the country. She’s with mixed race children there.
‘We just want what’s best for our country and our people ultimately. People are suffering, without any help for heating.
‘The whole country is struggling. Bills are going up and everyone is struggling and feeling the effects.’
