Overview
- Birmingham City Council has applied for an injunction to stop Raise the Colours members, led by Ryan Bridge, from attaching Union and St George’s flags to lamp-posts and other street furniture.
- Bridge and his lawyer told the Birmingham Civil and Family Justice Centre on Monday that the flagging is political expression protected by Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights and would be chilled by a blanket ban.
- Bridge admitted to placing flags and encouraging others to express their views, but his lawyer argued he did not promote law-breaking and opposed the council’s request for a power of arrest to allow immediate detention for suspected breaches.
- The council says the displays have caused disruption, trespass and safety concerns and points to a July High Court injunction in Oxfordshire that barred flagging near highways on similar grounds.
- About 20 Raise the Colours supporters attended the hearing and the judge reserved judgment, leaving the injunction application live and likely to shape how councils balance public-safety rules with political expression.