THE SNP and Greens have tabled separate motions to demand the removal of Saltire and Lion Rampant flags on Edinburgh’s Calder Road with alleged links to far-right and anti-immigrant groups.
As it stands the SNP and Greens’ motions to the City of Edinburgh Council for the removal of the flags will be heard at the full council meeting next Thursday, but there is some expectation that the motions will be amalgamated ahead of time.
Both parties noted the flags’ contravention of council policy and road safety regulations and expressed a desire to work with trade unions to ensure the safety of council workers taking flags down, after threats in other council areas.
The flags have been linked to Operation Raise the Colours, which presents itself as “nonpartisan” and “patriotic”, but has the support of far-right agitator Tommy Robinson and fascist political party Britain First.
The campaign gained steam in England earlier this year, but has since spread north of the border, with critics claiming it represents an attempt to intimidate migrants and inflame racial tensions.
It was founded by Andrew Currien, known as “Andy Saxon”, who has alleged links to the English Defence League and Britain First.
The flags first appeared in the Sighthill region of Edinburgh in September, and there are now nearly 60 flags flying from lampposts throughout the city.
Edinburgh Council has so far not taken any action to remove the flags.
In early October campaigners with Stand up to Racism (SUTR) who attempted to remove the flags themselves were allegedly threatened with murder by a man who appeared to claim responsibility for their installation.
The Edinburgh Trades’ Union Council (ETUC) hosted an emergency meeting on Monday concerning the flags, where members urged Police Scotland to step in to remove them in order to reduce the risk to council workers.
Scottish Greens councillor Chas Booth also lodged an emergency motion at the City Chambers on Tuesday about the flags.
Council leader Jane Meagher dismissed the motion, deeming it not urgent.
Speaking today, Booth said: “The continued presence of flags on lampposts around Edinburgh is clearly intended to intimidate immigrants and people of colour, and is completely unacceptable.
“Edinburgh is, and must remain, a diverse and welcoming city where immigrants, asylum seekers and people of colour must always feel safe and at home.
“The fact that this intimidation is still in place, several weeks after the flags were put up, is in direct contravention of the council’s existing policies on attaching items to lampposts, and is also in breach of the council’s cross-party agreement at last month’s full council meeting on asylum hotel protests, that ‘Edinburgh is a welcoming city to all people’.
“At the same time, it’s absolutely essential that council staff can do their jobs without fear of assault or intimidation, so I want senior council managers to put the necessary measures in place to ensure this, and they need to work with workers and the trade unions to find a way forward.”
There is understood to be significant apprehension among councillors and council workers about removing the flags, given how divisive and combustible the situation has become and the threats against council workers from other authorities completing similar jobs.
Independent Edinburgh councillor Ross McKenzie, who has campaigned for the flags’ removal, said he expects the SNP and Green positions to be merged:“I expect the Green and SNP positions on Thursday will be amalgamated and I’ll be likely to support what comes out of that process.
“More than anything though, the issue needs to be discussed publicly, and we need to get an understanding of why officers have failed to remove the flags for over si weeks now.
“I attended a meeting on this subject on Monday which was called by the ETUC.
“There were a range of good ideas about how workers and councillors can work with communities to try and prevent these types of divisive actions in the future.
“The reality of Edinburgh is that it’s an ethnically diverse city that suffers from gross inequality.
“The divides in our city that need to be addressed are about class, not where people were born.”
It is illegal to attach flags to council-owned assets unless permission is granted.
Questions have been raised, therefore, about the council’s inaction against the illegal and highly contentious hoisting of the flags, which is reportedly beginning to spread throughout the city.
The SNP group and Councillor Simita Kumar want to see the flags “removed as soon as practicable and as a matter of urgency” but stressed that the safety and wellbeing of council workers tasked with removing the flags should be paramount.
Back at the end of September, the council itself said: “Flags or other items which are attached to street lighting columns can present a road safety hazard if they become dislodged and blow onto the carriageway.
“As such we’ll remove any which potentially constitute a hazard.”
The City of Edinburgh Council will meet in full on Thursday, 30 October.
Councillor Simita Kumar and the City of Edinburgh Council have been approached for comment.
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