Sir Keir Starmer has refused to rule out withdrawing support for hanging the St George’s flags from lamposts.
The Prime Minister made the comments during a visit to the Peacehaven Mosque on Thursday morning, which was a victim of an arson attack.
When questioned whether he still supports flag hanging when local councils have called it “intimidating”, Sir Keir argued that “some people, a minority, only want to use the flag to divide”.
He said: “I’m very proud of that flag, and it’s really important that we don’t surrender our flag to anyone.
“Those that use the flag to divide and are only using it to divide are devaluing our flag, and we mustn’t let that happen.”
The Prime Minister added: “People will put out their flags for different reasons. So we can’t generalise all this. Very many people have a flag.”
Sir Keir confirmed that he is still flying his flag in Downing Street.
He told the BBC: “But I think it’s very clear when some people, just like the people who attacked this mosque, some people, a minority, only want to use the flag to divide and that’s to devalue the flag. It undermines the values of the flag.
Sir Keir Starmer has refused to rule out withdrawing support for hanging the St George’s flags from lamposts
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PA
“But there’s a wider point here, because here we are in a mosque that was subject to an arson attack, a place of worship we had the terrible attack in the synagogue just a few weeks ago in Manchester, it’s really important at times like this that we demonstrate the real Britain, who we are as a country, and bring people together. And that’s why I’m here.”
The Prime Minister also said multiculturalism has not failed in Britain.
Asked to respond to Conservative MP Katie Lam’s assertion that multiculturalism has failed, Sir Keir told ITV: “I can’t tell you how much I disagree with her.”
He added: “I think that her approach where people who are lawfully in this country, who have been working in our communities, perhaps in our schools, our hospitals, running businesses, our neighbours, people lawfully here. She wants to reach in and remove them from our country for cultural reasons, she says.
“That is how far the Conservative Party has sunk.”
The Prime Minister made the comments during a visit to the Peacehaven Mosque on Thursday morning
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The flag row erupted in Britain over the summer when the “Operation Raise the Colours” campaign encouraged proud Britons to display the Union flag and St George’s Cross in public places.
Some displays also involved painting the St. George’s Cross onto roundabouts and pedestrian crossings.
In August, Birmingham City Council began removing the flags, citing maintenance work and safety issues. Other councils, including Tower Hamlets in London and authorities in Liverpool, followed suit.
Supporters of the flags say the display is a patriotic act and a source of national pride.
The Prime Minister also said multiculturalism has not failed in Britain
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A supply teacher has claimed he was fired after hoisting as many as 150 flags around his hometown.
Reacting to the news, former Tory MP Ranil Jayawardena told GB News: “No one should be stopped from being a teacher because they hold centre-right views,” the politician fumed.
“Simply because someone wants to fly the flags across their community, there’s no reason why they should not be able to teach or support teachers in helping young people thrive.”
He further added: “It’s worrying, isn’t it? That if that is that’s the mindset of some teachers in some schools, then what are they teaching our children?”
