The Medway region in Kent, renowned for its rich military heritage and former Royal Navy docks, has recently found itself at the center of a heated debate. This area, historically home to several Army regiments, has seen its residents accuse the local council of acting “treasonously” after it spent over £11,500 to remove 750 St George’s and Union Jack flags.

Medway Council justified the expenditure, arguing that the display of these flags was a deliberate move intended to incite tensions among minority ethnic communities in the area. However, this explanation did not sit well with many locals. Residents from the five Medway towns have criticized the council for what they perceive as an unnecessary and “woke” use of taxpayer money.

The situation in Medway is not an isolated one, as similar scenarios are unfolding across the UK. Flags are being raised, only to be quickly taken down, leaving many citizens frustrated and angered by these actions.

In Chatham, one of the Medway towns, there is currently no trace of the St George’s or Union flags in the town center. Interestingly, the Christmas decorations do feature images of parcels adorned with red ribbons that resemble the St George’s cross, adding a touch of irony to the festive display.

It is a scenario being played out across the country, with flags being put up and then swiftly taken down again – to the anger of many.

This week, there were no signs of any St Georges or Union flags in Chatham town centre – one of the five Medway towns – although Christmas decorations ironically included images of parcels with red ribbons similar to the St George’s cross.

Retired avionics fitter and grandfather-of four Martin Doughty, 73, from Rochester, said: ‘Personally I think it’s wrong. 

‘You should be able to fly the national flag wherever as long as its not in a dangerous place.

‘We can put poppies up on lampposts but we can’t put up a flag?

‘And £11,500 to take them down? Well that’s unbelievable.

Marshall Bowmaker, 61, from Chatham, whose grandfather served in World War One said: ‘It’s disgusting. I think it’s treasonous.

‘My grandfather fought in 1914. When war was declared, he and his brothers went and joined up on the first day. He was at The Somme, Ypres. How would he have felt?’

‘He didn’t leave the army until he was 55 and then went to work at the Post Office and retired at 70 – and they’ve got the cheek to tear down the flag he fought for?’

Mother-of-five Samantha Phillips, 50, from Rainham, Kent, who runs her own cleaning business, said: ‘It’s 100 per cent woke.

‘I’m sure they’ve got better things to spend it on.’

Another shopper, who did not want to be named, but lives in Walderslade, said: ‘As long as putting up the flags is not done in an aggressive manner or to force their opinion on people, then I don’t think they should be taken down and I can’t see how it can affect people’s daily lives, to be honest.’

People in nearby historic Rochester, which boasts a Norman castle and medieval Rochester Cathedral, also expressed their views.

Antiques shopkeeper Jim Field, 67, said he thought the council had lost its way.

‘Everyone should have the right to express their views,’ he said. ‘It’s not symbolism, it’s what we are.’

But some agreed with the council’s move.

Marie Twiner, 45, who was out in the historic high street with daughter Courtney-Jade Cooper, 23, said: ‘My personal view is that it causes arguments and unnecessary violence,’ she said. 

‘We can still be proud of who we are but we don’t want to cause upset to other people.’

Medway council is not alone. Earlier this week it emerged local councils have spent at least £70,000 removing or taking down flags.

It comes after a campaign called Operation Raise the Colours encouraged people to put up Union Jacks and the St George’s cross in public spaces in the name of patriotism.

However, numerous councils have since removed unauthorised flags from lampposts and road signs, citing significant safety concerns.

Others have raised concerns about the group’s far Right links and impact on community cohesion. 

According to the research group Hope Not Hate, Operation Raise the Colours was co-founded by Andrew Currien, otherwise known as Andy Saxon, who has allegedly had links with the English Defence League and Britain First. 

He is also a longtime ally of Stephen-Yaxley Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson.

Labour councillor Alex Paterson, who is responsible for community safety, highways and enforcement for Medway, said the movement to put up the flags was the work of ‘far-right agitators’ who were set on causing ‘division and intimidation’ in the diverse community of Medway.

He said: ‘I think at this stage the world is divided into people who know exactly why these flags were put up and those who are still pretending they don’t know why they were put up.’

He said any new flags would also be taken down.

Mr Paterson said: ‘We are actually gathering the flags that have been taken down, I’ve been working with community groups in Medway who are keen to turn them into a positive community artwork.’

In Nottingham, St George’s Cross flags have been removed and replaced by ‘we are welcoming’ and ‘ we are kind’ signs – which were also later removed.

Retired engineer Brian Hollingworth, 78, said anyone who put up a flag was branded ‘racist’.

He said: ‘I couldn’t care less if people put the flags up. Plenty of other countries do it. In Switzerland you can’t move for the Swiss flag. But if you do it here, immediately you are called a racist.

‘Regarding the signs that were put up – I would much rather see the flags. Why should it be ok to fly other flags, but not our own?’

Pensioner John Wilson, 75, said: ‘The flags are just people expressing their patriotism. I think it’s a sign that some are fed up with the number of people coming into this country illegally.

‘Personally, I wouldn’t go to all the trouble of putting one up. But I can see why they do. The signs that replaced them were a bit provocative, I think. They were looking for a reaction.’

But University graduate Angelica Asani, 21, said she felt the flags were a ‘sign of growing nationalism’.

‘To be honest, it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. It gives me some anxiety,’ she said.

‘I understand that people have pride in their country, but in my opinion that was not the mindset of the people behind it. I think it is quite unwelcoming, the way they are pushing it forward.

‘I am Croatian, so a rise in nationalism is a bit of a sore spot, because of the Balkan Wars. I’ve been thinking that if there is a risk of this behaviour spreading I might have to leave the UK. I feel it is backward thinking. ‘

Student Rani Begum, 19, said: ‘I thought the England flags were a bit intimidating. To me, they kind of said you aren’t welcome here if you aren’t born in the UK. It was kind of territorial.

‘You see England flags flying if the football team is doing well or whatever, but this felt a bit different.’

Over in Birmingham residents in the flag hot spot of Weoley Castle say their council is ‘crazy’ to spend money removing the patriotic display that sprung up over the summer.

Last month, the bankrupt council attempted to recruit contractors to start taking down the Union Jacks and other national flags.

Offering pay-rates of between £22 and £25 per hour for those capable of operating ‘cherry pickers’, they planned nightly raids to reclaim their ‘street furniture’.

Council leader John Cotton said he had no problem with people displaying flags on their own property but, ‘there are health and safety obligations we have to ensure, as the highways authority, are respected.’

And while the flag count is down in much of the city, certain areas seem impenetrable to the town hall bureaucrats.

Norman Doherty, 78, a retired mental health worker, from Weoley Castle where the flag movement began, said: ‘They would be crazy wasting their money taking them down because they will go straight back up again.

‘On my road there are Asians, Romanians, all sorts of nationalities and they all say the flags are nice.

‘How are the council in a position to do this? They leave people in homes unfit for human habitation, they can’t pay their bin workers, but they can afford to attack the flags. Please. There is no problem with them.’

West Boulevard, a dual carriageway leading from Quinton down to Weoley Castle, still has flags representing all the countries of the British Isles attached to every street light.

Liz Stevens, 42, a hairdresser, wants them to stay.

‘I think it brings the community together,’ she said. ‘Some people run with the far right narrative but I’m half Irish and to me it’s about bringing back a bit of community spirit.

‘The council can’t sort out the rubbish or the potholes, so why the hell are they bothered about the flags when we’ve all seen loads of Palestinian flags up in other bits of Birmingham.’

The issue of Palestinian flags is a frequent theme for those supporting the flag display.

Ibrahim Zourob, 32, an office worker, came to Britain from Palestine five years ago and now lives in Weoley Castle.

He said, ‘The flags don’t bother me at all. It is people showing off their love for their country and their national symbol and as a Palestinian I have no problem with that.’

Recently some health bosses said their mostly non-white staff felt intimidated by seeing so many flags in certain areas.

Ibrahim added, ‘I don’t know why they would feel that way. It is a flag, it is a patriotic feeling, we all have the right to express that.’

Others however are not so relaxed.

Student Hooriya, 18, who lives on a cul-de-sac festooned with Union Jacks and St George Crosses, said: ‘Of course people can do what they want. but personally I do not feel it stands for patriotism.

‘I think that because it is not something I have seen before and it has come at a time when there is constant talk of migration and hotels and the rest of it.

‘To me, it is there to make people feel uncomfortable so I don’t like it.’

Across the road from Hooriya lives Glenn, 43, a self-employed mechanic with what looks like a Union Jack flag in his window.

‘That’s not a flag,’ he laughs, ‘that’s a shopping bag we put there to dry out and we just forgot to take it down.’

He insists that the Council have made moves to clear flags from the area.

‘There were flags on every lamppost and I got up one morning and most of them had gone,’ he said.

‘I don’t think they should be taking them down. Other people are allowed to display their flags so why not the British.

‘It has nothing to do with race. I don’t care if there are Palestine flags or Pakistani flags. just as long as the British ones are mixed in.

‘I think people find it disheartening. I don’t mind immigrants, but we also have to help our own.

‘There are thousands of people homeless and yet they have hotels for those that just arrive. That’s not right.’

David Hunt, 66, a retired welder, also feels passionately about the issue.

‘When they first went up, the council said they had to come down so I put one in my caravan.

‘This is about illegal immigration and people are fed up. I hope the flags are sending a message that these illegals should be sent back to France.

‘The council never took the Palestine flags down but they went after Britain’s flags and people won’t forget that.’

His neighbours on Weoley Castle Road, Di and Barry, both in their fifties, could not agree more.

Barry, a construction worker, said, ‘They should stay up because we are losing our identity.

‘We used to know everybody on this road but now we’ve got HMOs, cars piled up everywhere, nowhere to park, it’s become a mess.

‘The Council wrote to us about an Aldi opening but never said anything about the HMO.’

His wife, Di added: ‘The flags have really lifted the area. There is a beautiful display now down at the shops honouring our veterans.

‘The council say it’s all about health and safety, but we’re not stupid. There are a thousand things for them to worry about, but the flags ain’t one.’

But with Christmas coming and the weather turning, many of the flags are beginning to look frayed at the edges.

David, 51, an admin officer and father, said: ‘I am proud of the flag, but I think it has got a bit ridiculous now. It is excessive and they no longer look good.

‘Personally I want to see the flags flying in a good setting, not hanging lamely on every streetlight.

‘I am not against them, but I think they have served their purpose.’

Nearly 60 miles away, flags have been removed from Tewkesbury Road, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

The 30 or so flags disappeared several weeks ago as quickly and mysteriously as they appeared, locals said.

The Tewkesbury Road flags, like elsewhere in the UK, polarised opinion and caused division among people living or working in the area.

This week many welcomed their removal. Others said they should be put back immediately.

Lance Western, a 65-year-old carer, described the flags’ removal as ‘a sad day’.

He said: ‘What’s wrong with people wanting to show pride in this country and trying to celebrate being English, or British.

‘I used to love driving down Tewkesbury Road and seeing all the flags flattering from the lamp posts. It made me feel patriotic.

‘This is our country and we should all want to fly our nation flags.

‘I’m very sad to see they’ve been pulled down. I’ve no idea who did it but whoever they are, I urge you to put them back up. I’ve got a feeling some kind of wokery is behind this.

‘It is absolutely ridiculous that we live in a world where we can no longer celebrate being British.’

But another local, retired serviceman and retired Ministry of Defence worker Danny, 73, said he was ‘pleased’ the flags had come down.

He said: ‘With my background in the military and the MOD, there are probably few people more patriotic than me. I have devoted my life to public duty and the defence of my country, but it seems clear to me that those who are tying these flags to lamp posts and railway bridges around the country do not have the UK’s best interests at heart.

‘For them, it is political and a means of promoting their right wing political agenda, which I feel should play no part in the British way of life.

‘I am pleased they have been taken down.

‘I am pretty sure that what was behind the appearance of these flags was an anti-immigration sentiment.

‘We have housed our fair share of immigrants in the Cheltenham area and not everybody has been welcoming to them. It is disappointing.’

Retired police officer David, 72, described himself as ‘very patriotic’, but had mixed feelings about the appearance of the flags in Tewkesbury Road earlier this year.

He said:’ I worry about the mentality behind the flags. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating being British – in fact I hugely support that – but I think our national flags have been hijacked by the right wing of the political spectrum and I don’t want to be seeing that.

‘In the current political climate, I would question the motives of anybody putting a flag on public display.’

His wife Tina, 68, a retired local authority senior manager, agreed.

She said: ‘The national flags have become a difficult problem of late and if they are making people feel unsettled or uncomfortable, then it is only right that they should come down. The union jack flying in public is not a problem as such, but it is becoming increasingly politicised and that is not something that should have any place in British life.’

Educationalist Shelley, 45, said the union jack and St George’s flags have become ‘hijacked’ in recent years.

She said:’ I am not a fan of seeing our flags flown in public when it is in the context of sending out a political message. It is pretty clear now that this is about right wing politics, not genuine patriotism.

‘I’m glad they’ve come down.

Student Joe, 17, said he too feels the flag has been hijacked by the far right.

He said: ‘ I know the union jack and the St George’s flags are symbols of our fantastic country, but nowadays they speak of far right and extremist political ambitions and I am against that. You see them everywhere now and I can’t stand it.’

Last month, Reform UK-led Nottinghamshire County Council  announced it would spend £75,000 flying new Union flags at 82 locations across its patch. 

But just days ago, health leaders claimed St George’s flags were creating ‘no-go zones’ and could be intimidating for NHS staff – particularly those working in the community – with some facing frequent abuse.

The executives spoke to journalists anonymously as a poll of senior managers found 45 per cent were extremely concerned about discrimination towards NHS staff from patients and the public, while a further 33 per cent were moderately concerned.