The London Borough of Redbridge is now under fire for failing to remove Palestinian flags.  UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has written to Agnes Adrien, the Chief Legal Officer of Redbridge, pointing out that Redbridge has breached the law because it has failed to remove the great proliferation of Palestinian flags that has appeared over the past few weeks following the 7 October massacre of Israelis by Hamas terrorists.

UKLFI has been informed about

• Flags “up and down”  Cranbrook Road in Ilford.

• Flags all along The Drive, Ilford

• Large flags in the main roads of Ilford,  Gants Hill and Redbridge since the beginning of December

• Stickers in an underpass in Redbridge

This follows a similar letter sent by UKLFI to Tower Hamlets Council on 3 January 2024.

UKLFI has pointed out to Redbridge Council that fixing flags, posters and stickers to lamp posts or other structures on streets appears to contravene section 132 of the Highways Act 1980.

UKLFI has also drawn the attention of Redbridge Council to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (“the Act”) and the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements)(England) Regulations 2007 (as amended) (“the Regulations”).

Under this legislation flags are regarded as a kind of advertisement and displaying them in public places requires planning permission unless they are covered by one of the exceptions.

The exceptions include “any country’s national flag”. Assuming this covers a Palestine flag, even though Palestine is not recognised as a State by the UK, the exception only applies if certain conditions are also met including: “No advertisement is to be displayed without the permission of the owner of the site or any other person with an interest in the site entitled to grant permission”.

Many of the flags are on the property of Redbridge Council. While the Council has not taken steps to remove them, it does not appear to have granted permission for their display. Therefore the display of the flags is criminal offence under section 224(3) of the Act.

The owner of the land is liable for the offence even if it did not put up the flags itself, unless it takes all reasonable steps to remove them once it is aware of them.

We have been informed by Redbridge Council residents that they have complained about the flags over the past few weeks, but the flags have not been removed.

Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI commented: “Jewish residents of Redbridge have made it clear to our organisation that they feel very unsafe in an environment where the Palestinian flags proliferate. They feel that the presence of the flags is oppressive and intimidating.  Redbridge should take all steps to ensure that all members of their local community should feel safe and not feel threatened, particularly at this time when antisemitism is so prevalent. They need to remove the flags.”

So it appears that the Council has not taken all reasonable steps to remove the flags from its land and therefore has committed and is committing criminal offences.

UKLFI has also asked Redbridge to investigate who is responsible for fixing  the flags to the lamp posts and other street furniture, so that they can be prosecuted for offences under the planning legislation, the Highways Act, the Public Order Act and the Terrorism Acts where applicable.

Update 19 January 2024:   Redbridge has confirmed  that it has a policy of removing flags.   It said:  “In accordance with s132 of the Highways Act 1980 Redbridge Council has a policy of removing any and all unauthorised items, including flags, banners, and decorations, from our street furniture, such as lampposts, benches and railings.
 
This policy is applied fairly to all items displayed on street furniture, in order to keep our streets tidy, prevent the potential concealment of CCTV and traffic signs, and to avoid items falling into the street and causing a hazard.”