A mini Battle of Cable Street': the English neighbourhoods still grappling with the meaning of the flags

"The Christmas lights have gone up in Stirchley. A multifaith mix of stars and swirls add a festive air to the lamp-posts along the main street of this south Birmingham suburb. Stirchley is a modest kind of place, sandwiched between better known (and better off) areas such as Bourneville and Moseley, but there is plenty of evidence here of the lively community spirit that last year resulted in the area being named the best place to live in the Midlands."

"Outside the farm foods shop, someone has pasted photos of a number of Stirchley residents, whose faces have since been scraped away. I AM THE PERSON TAKING DOWN THE FLAGS, reads one image that has been stuck on a bin. Another picture, since torn off the post box, was tagged: I HATE THE UNION FLAG. Some in favour of flying the flags have been pasting photographs of residents they say have removed them on bins and postboxes."

"For months, this small collection of Victorian streets has found itself the scene of a fractious and at times very ugly dispute over the flying of flags. On at least four occasions since September, members of a Birmingham-based group called Raise The Colours (RTC), wearing branded hard hats and hi-vis vests and using a cherrypicker, have hung hundreds of Saint George and union flags from Stirchley's lamp-posts, as part of a widespread campaign they say is intended to fill the skyline with unity and patriotism."

Stirchley displays festive, multifaith street decorations and active community groups, reflecting lively local spirit and recent recognition as the best place to live in the Midlands. A visible dispute has arisen over repeated installations of Saint George and union flags by a group called Raise The Colours, which deploys branded hard hats, hi-vis vests and a cherrypicker to hang flags from lamp-posts. Other residents repeatedly remove the flags, calling the displays territory-marking and anti-immigrant. Tensions have included pasted photographs, scraped faces, hostile messages and mutual accusations of harassment and intimidation.

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