A Leicestershire MP believes it is now time to remove flags from the county's lampposts. Jeevun Sandher said some are getting "tatty" and he fears they risk becoming a safety risk if they blow off into the roads. 

The Loughborough MP added that, while we are "all proud of our flag", their current use makes some people "uneasy" and leaves them questioning whether the true message behind them is around "who does and does not belong" here.  

Hundreds of Union flags and St George's Crosses appeared across the county and the country over the summer. 

Reform-run Leicestershire County Council previously advised that it would not remove them from lampposts or other street furniture unless they posed a "serious safety risk". But Mr Sandher is now calling on the authority to take them down regardless. 

The MP said: "I am proud of our flag, but these flags are becoming tatty and their continued presence raises a safety concern as they risk detaching and falling into the road." 

He added: "Beyond the practicalities, for many of our fellow Brits, it makes them feel uneasy. They ask – what message are these flags supposed to be sending – is it just about national pride? 

"I'll take people at their word. That was the intention. But it's not how people feel. When they see flags put up in the dead of night, zip-tied to every lamppost. They ask — is it meant to send another message? About who does, and does not belong? 

"You've seen it online, you've heard it from your friends, I see it every day in my inbox. Our flag shouldn't be associated with unease. 

"Our British spirit is about us all standing together under our flag. Not some of us — our neighbours, our colleagues, our friends — looking up, feeling like they don't belong." 

However, council leader Dan Harrison told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he does not intend to order flags be removed. He said: "I feel quite strongly about this really. 

"I love to see our patron saint, St George's, flag flying as much as I would the Union flag. These flags are about us as a nation, who we are […] 

"Other people may have a problem with it, and I can't account for them and their interpretation, but my interpretation is I think it brings more goodwill than it does harm." 

He added: "We should be proud of it. That's who we are. We're Great Britain, we're a proud nation, and that's our flag. 

"If they fly flags over motorways and roadways, we take them down immediately. If they put flags up that block out important road signs are moved immediately. 

"If it's up a lamppost somewhere not causing any harm other than people looking at it and feeling revolted by it, if that's their feeling, or despondent, I don't know how I'd describe it but to me it gives me a lovely feeling going along and seeing a flag flying, well why not? This is our country."