Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken says Saltire flags will be removed when they become 'tatty'

The leader of Glasgow City Council has said flags attached to lampposts will be removed when they become “tatty”.

Councils across Scotland, including Aberdeenshire and Falkirk, said workers have faced abuse while attempting to detach Saltires from street lights.

Anti-immigration campaign groups have raised the flags as part of a UK-wide protest called “Raise the Colours”, coinciding with demonstrations against housing asylum seekers in hotels.

Scotland

Council suspends flag removals after staff threatened

Anti-immigration groups say they are ‘disgusted’ by the removals of the Saltires.

Removal of the flags in Aberdeenshire has been suspended and incidents of abuse have been reported to Police Scotland.

STV News understands that Aberdeenshire Council requested the aid of officers to continue taking down the flags.

‘We won’t divert resources’

However Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken told STV News flags will be removed when they begin to deteriorate.

She told STV News: “It will be dealt with as part of normal operational activities by the teams who work on this.

“It’s not something that we will divert resources to deal with.

“We would take flags down before they start to look tatty and deteriorate, which usually happens quite quickly.”

Flags were attached to lamp posts across Falkirk town centre. LDRS

Save Our Futures and Our Kids Futures, an anti-immigration campaign group in Falkirk, said it was “disgusted” by the removal of the flags by local authorities.

It has since started a fundraising effort to buy more flags.

The Tartan Team, a Glasgow-based group that has been raising flags across the city, told STV News that the Saltires weren’t about immigration but were to highlight problems with the NHS and crime.

“We wouldn’t be the country we are without immigration,” a spokesperson said.

“Flags are doing no harm, the council should be worried about other problems.”

The raising of Saltires has followed a number of protests and counter-protests over the housing of asylum seekers in hotels.

More than 200 people gathered outside the Cladhan Hotel in Falkirk on Saturday, where asylum seekers are being housed by the Home Office while awaiting their claims to be processed.

Posts advertising the protest said the action wasn’t “against all immigration” but opposes illegal immigrants and the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.

The anti-immigration group was met by about 200 counter-protesters from trade unions and the campaign group Stand Up To Racism.

Similar protests and counter-protests have occurred in Aberdeen.

‘Despicable and moronic attacks’

Attacks on council workers removing the flags have been condemned by the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), who branded the incidents “cowardly”.

“It’s as despicable as it is moronic that those who seek to raise the saltire under the false guise of protecting our community would then seek to attack those public servants who serve our community,” general secretary Roz Foyer said.

“The Saltire represents tolerance, acceptance, respect and inclusion. These principles are sacrosanct and those who seem intent on attacking our council staff would do well to remember it before they defile our nation’s flag.”

What are councils saying?

A Falkirk Council spokesperson said: “Over the weekend, Falkirk Council acted immediately to remove flags that had been attached with no authorisation from its street lights.

“This was for clear safety reasons in line with national guidance regarding unauthorised attachments to street lights.

“In some instances, council employees suffered intimidating behaviour from people, which prevented them from completing this task.

“This is unacceptable and the council will liaise with Police Scotland to take action against those responsible.

“The Council takes public safety extremely seriously. Unauthorised attachments to lighting columns present a clear and avoidable risk and will continue to be removed moving forward.”

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “Attaching flags on lampposts without authorisation creates a risk to personal and public safety and we urge people to cease this activity.

“This issue will be managed appropriately within the scope of our available resources.”

An Aberdeenshire Council spokesperson said: “It is an offence under the Road (Scotland) Act 1984 to hang anything from street lights or to damage the road in any way.

“Hanging items from street lighting columns presents a risk to road and pavement users, as well as the people placing these items on the streetlights.

“The community can apply for permission to add installations or decorations to street lighting columns.

“However, consent must be obtained and all works must comply with council policy. The hanging of flags would not meet the criteria contained within our policy.

“Any unauthorised installations will be removed and the council can seek to recover costs from the responsible persons.”

An Aberdeen City Council spokesperson said: “We are aware that flags were installed on lighting columns without the relevant local permissions and, as such, will need to be removed in due course.”