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APCC Chair Brands Street Flag Surge 'Intimidation' at Policing Summit

Police chiefs split over whether flag displays require national action.

Overview

  • Emily Spurrell told the national conference that widespread St George’s and Union Jack displays are being used to provoke fear and assert dominance, calling them tools of division.
  • National Police Chiefs’ Council head Gavin Stephens said the issue should be handled locally, stating it is not for the police to enforce against flags.
  • Spurrell criticised the Home Secretary’s asylum overhaul as demonising communities and warned that invoking women’s safety to justify anti-immigration rhetoric is misleading.
  • Coverage reiterated the government’s plan to abolish Police and Crime Commissioners in 2028, a move Spurrell dismissed as wrongly labelling the roles a failed experiment.
  • Flag organisers, including a representative from Flag Force UK, defended the campaigns as community pride efforts, while a reported case in York described a teaching assistant losing his job after raising flags.