14 October (Part 1) - Places. Call for Action!
Believe it or not Bexley Council devoted a big chunk of its four hour Places
meeting to flags and whether they should have been removed sooner. My own view is that
after a
while they looked tatty and we could easily do without them, but that is a very
different view to what comes from left wing politicians who simply don’t like
national flags except when there is a football match on. Their reasons are
fairly well known, they think anything English offends some of their core voters
which might not be true.
Councillor Nicola Taylor (Labour, Erith) had, in the Council’s jargon, Called for
Action over flags. She said that “some flags were deliberately installed outside
the homes of people from the BAME community and residents reported increased
hate crime in the area. Eight months on, they continue to intimidate and are
tatty and torn. All should be removed, not just the tatty ones. They are
divisive and do not present a good picture of our town”.
Council Leader David Leaf said he was pleased to have returned to Bexley having
spent a week in Birmingham, “a city wrecked by Socialism and all sorts of
terrible politics”. A small number of flags were removed in Bexley because of road safety
issues and elsewhere widespread removal had increased community tensions and
simply resulted in reflagging. Despite the need for caution, about 700 flags
were removed last month at a much lower cost than had there been a rush job some months ago,
Councillor Taylor that she had just celebrated
the 90th anniversary of Cable Street. She felt that those who installed the
illegal flags in Bexley, quoting the campaign’s leader, that the flag flyers may
have hatred in their heart. “Patriotism is not enough, I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone.”
“They brought disgrace to our borough” and according to Donna Briant (Labour, Slade Green) reduced twelve year old
children to tears. Councillor proposed a Task and Finish Group to settle policy.
The Council Leader acknowledged that some flag wavers might do so for all the wrong reasons but immediate removal
would have provoked immediate reinstallation.
He claimed that his pragmatic approach to flag removal had successfully
avoided community tensions while keeping costs low. Councillor Taylor said that
non-removal of flags emboldened those who favoured flags and they were disrespectful to veterans etc.
In Birmingham flag removal cost £130 per flag (2·5million) and in Bexley such
costs were avoided. He suggested that Councillor Taylor’s expression of very
different views could themselves raise community tensions and removing flags
before St. George’s Day and the football World Cup would not have been a good idea,
Councillor Chris Ball (Labour, Erith) was, with some caveats, inclined to agree that the Leader’s
approach was the correct one. (Chris and Nicola represent the same ward.)
Councillor Terry Barcock (Conservative, Sidcup) was more of an enthusiast for early removal whatever the cost.
Councillor Stefano Borella (Labour Leader) said that those he saw erecting flags in Welling
were all drunk and they damaged lamp posts. “They were criminals.” He “was
absolutely confident" that most residents did not want the flags. I suppose that includes me so maybe he is right.
Councillor Michael Gillespie (Conservative, Barnehurst) found that his door
knocking activities resulted in comments that were generally supportive of flags.
Councillor Jeremy Fosten (Labour, Belvedere) said he thought the
anti-immigration posters which appeared on the Horse roundabout in Belvedere were disgraceful.
Councillor Frazer Brooks (Conservative, Blackfen and Lamorbey) said his canvassing experience showed very few
anti-flaggers.
Councillor Taylor, as is to be expected, was argumentative until the very end,
disputing every reason David Leaf offered for his measured decision. She
proposed the Task and Finish Group. Councillor Leaf was scared of scrutiny and not a Leader.
The proposal was seconded by Councillor Ball but it was defeated.
While he was being “shouted down and heckled” Councillor Leaf offered to meet
opposition Members to discuss things that could not be made available publicly.
At twenty to midnight, the meeting continued, but there will be no further reports here.
To quote from Wikipedia, the British Union of Fascists in 1936 had become
increasingly anti-Semitic and Cable Street (Aldgate,
East London) was very much a Jewish area, The Labour and Communist Parties along
with the Jewish People’s Council attempted to block the BUF’s march and things
became violent. I am not sure how it came to be that in 90 years it is the left
wing of politics that is now generally anti-Semitic.