[Samanfur]

Patriot pushed workmen off a ladder believing they were taking down Union Jacks

The original headline contained the word 'drunk' in parentheses, but not the word 'patriot' presented in the same way, which would have been more appropriate for a drunken lout with convictions for 113 prior offences.

[davidjay]

And a bit of light relief.

[Abernathy]

“What time have you got to be back at the hospital?”


What a fucking wanker.

[davidjay]

"I've got one of my operatives up there" - what a fucking pretentious wanker.

[Boiler]

Tee hee

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... he-colours

The leader of a flag campaign group has been arrested on suspicion of causing religiously and racially aggravated harassment.

Ryan Bridge is the co-founder of Raise the Colours, which has put up hundreds of union and Saint George flags across England and attracted criticism for spreading anti-immigrant rhetoric. He was arrested on Tuesday and released on police bail the following day.

In recent days, the Raise the Colours group has posted several videos of its members erecting flags in Oxfordshire. On Monday, Oxfordshire county council issued a legal notice banning the group from putting up flags, arguing it was an “act of intimidation and division”.

In a video posted on Facebook after his release, Bridge said: “I’ve just been let out – 18-and-a-half hours for a public order section 5 causing people alarm and distress. The world’s gone mad.

“Me putting the flag up in my country is causing alarm and distress to certain members of the public. It’s an absolute disgrace … we’ve got to march on, we’ve got to fight on. We’ve got a fight on our hands.”

[Bones McCoy]

First time I've seen him talking.

If Zippy off of the Rainbows had been huffing helium...


Let's hope he finds the fight he desires.

[RedSparrows]

For people obsessed with symbolism they're not half taking their fans as mugs by complaining about... symbolism.

[davidjay]

I saw a load of flags on a motorway island the other day. They were all high up on every lamppost; it must have taken a lot of time and effort to do them and involve a fair amount of blocking the road off. It's impossible for them not to have been noticed so I wonder how they get permission to do it and how much collusion there is between them and the police.

[AOB]

From the above Guardian article:

“Me putting the flag up in my country is causing alarm and distress to certain members of the public. ”

This is similar to when a TV quiz show contestant gets the answer correct but doesn't understand the logic behind it. It's not the flags themselves, it's that they are put up by people full of hate, and behind that lies a threat of violence. Even one flag is quite powerful as it incorrectly gives the perception everyone in that area is of the same ilk.

When the public use flags in other circumstances it comes from a positive mindset. For example, go through a city or town ahead of one of its teams in a football final, there are often flags hanging from windows, it comes from a love of their team. You don't have to have an interest in that final yourself to feel a general sense of positivity and good mood. A complete polar opposite of a feeling to seeing St George's flags because you know the negativity, hatred and intimidatory reason behind it.

[RedSparrows]

Precisely.

'What do you mean I can't fly my flag as part of a co ordinated effort to protest immigration and forrins, how dare you suggest the flag is being used as a symbol of contempt, exclusivity and hubris'.

[davidjay]

The entitlement is loud in this one. It's my country, therefore I can do whatever I want in any part of it.

[Abernathy]

I saw a load of flags on a motorway island the other day. They were all high up on every lamppost; it must have taken a lot of time and effort to do them and involve a fair amount of blocking the road off. It's impossible for them not to have been noticed so I wonder how they get permission to do it and how much collusion there is between them and the police.

They don't have permission.

What they are doing in hanging unauthorised flags from public infrastructure like lamp standards is actually illegal.
As for collusion with the police , I don't think so. More likely to be a case of our perenially under-resourced police force lacking the time and bandwidth to prioritise nicking the wankers when they are actually out flag-hanging over the gajillion other calls on their time, so they get away with it.

I think I know which motorway island you're referring to - is it the A435/M42 intersection? Really tall lamp-posts - about 6 metres high, and the wankers have put their flags right at the top. They will have used a truck with a cherry picker, and probably done it in the dead of night when there wasn't so much traffic on the roads. They may even have worn high-vis jackets to look "official" so as not to attract suspicion as to what they were doing. Most drivers just want to get past any of that stuff and get to where they want to go, so unless a particularly concerned (or just normal) citizen goes by and tips off the fuzz, they won't have been reported.

[davidjay]

I thought it was the A38 intersection further down but you're probably right. Mine were rhetorical questions - I know they don't get permission and that the police haven't got the resources even if someone does inform them but the overwhelming impression I got is that it's now a very professional set-up. Someone is clearly spending a lot of time and money on this operation.