'I raised the British flag in major UK city - what the woke council did next shocked me'

A campaigner has labelled the removal of Union Flags and St George's flags across his city by Birmingham Council as "ludicrous", suggesting they should instead focus on "emptying the recycling bin on my front lawn". George Webb, 24, is among the hundreds of residents in the West Midlands city to have raised the national flags in a show of "patriotic" solidarity, before they were taken down by the local authority after being identified as "safety hazards". Mr Webb said he thought many of the flags had gone up to mark Victory over Japan (VJ) Day last week.

"I think it's a huge shame that they feel the need to take them down," he told the Express. "There shouldn't be any issue with our country's flag going up on a lamppost. Birmingham Council making a priority of taking them down is ludicrous. This is a bankrupt council that can't even collect rubbish. My mixed recycling wheelie bin has been sitting on my lawn for six or seven months, unemptied. But a flag on a lamppost gets their urgent attention."

The 24-year-old said the feeling on the ground was of "sadness" about what he said was an increased difficulty of expressing any patriotism - for fear of being grouped with violent extremists.

"I was watching the VJ Day celebrations on Friday, and thinking about what those veterans must think of us now," he said. "They put their lives on the line for this country - we can't even fly its flag."

He also dismissed as "poor" the council's claim that removing the flags would ensure pedestrian and motorist safety, and suggested it was part of a larger effort to promote being "ashamed of our culture and history".

"When we're putting these flags on lampposts, we're not hurting anyone," Mr Webb added. "It's a pretty harmless way of being patriotic if you ask me. And if a five-by-three weightless flag on a lamppost is posing a safety risk, I'd say the problem is probably with the lamppost, not the flag."

In a statement, Birmingham City Council said: "We proudly fly the Union flag outside the Council House every day and recognise the importance of the Union flag and flag of St George as symbols of national pride.

"Brummies are proud to be British and proud that this is a welcoming city celebrating many different cultures.

"When it comes to items attached to lampposts, it is normal council procedure for these to be removed on a regular basis, in line with our health and safety obligations.

"As has always been the case, people are free to fly or hang flags from their homes or gardens, but we ask that they are not attached to street furniture."

The local authority has been struggling with rubbish collection since its lorry drivers went on strike in March, with mountains of rubbish seen across the city in the intervening months and a rise in its rat population.