A Conservative councillor in New Addington has said that Union flags that have been placed along Central Parade without proper permission “look great”, and he has posted on social media that the council will not remove the flags unless they block sight lines.
Flag-shagger: Tony Pearson thinks flags hoisted in New Addington, possibly funded by the far-right, are ‘great’
Tony Pearson, who dabbled in membership of the far-right Democrats and Veterans Party – a Trump-esque splinter group with an unapologetic anti-Muslim stance – before being welcomed back as a member of Croydon Tories and regaining a seat on the council, posted his messages on a New Addington Councillors Facebook group, of which he is a moderator.
Intriguingly, by this morning, the comments all appear to have been removed, without any explanation from the page moderator.
The use of Union and St George flags has become a point of contention over the past month, as it has emerged that people with strong connections with far-right groups, including the racist English Defence League, have been funding the supply of the flags, in the hope of provoking unrest and attacks against hotels housing asylum seekers.
Tethering any banners to public street furniture without formal permission in advance may be considered to constitute fly-posting, which can be punished with fines of up to £2,500 if convicted in court.
Tragic roundabout: this South Norwood junction was subject to a dodgy makeover this week
Graffiti-ing is another criminal offence, and that can include the daubing of red crosses over mini-roundabouts, as occurred in South Norwood earlier this week at the junction between Ross Road and Canham Road.
One local, seeing the roundabout, posted to Facebook: “This is not patriotism. This is vandalism… We are better than this.
“People are respectfully entitled to their views… this area is full of good and decent people who I am sure are deeply concerned by this so-called ‘patriotism’. There are plenty of other ways to show it that don’t involve vandalising roundabouts.”
But a push-back began the following night, with some anti-fascists painting over the roundabout with their own message: “England for all”, and a heart shape.
Conways, the council’s roads contractors, were seen on site today removing all graffiti from the roundabout.
Push back: how anti-fascists responded within 24 hours
Inside Croydon reported earlier this week of the hundreds of St George cross flags tethered illegally to lamp posts along Coulsdon Road, through Coulsdon Common and past The Fox pub, all the way into Caterham and Surrey.
It is possible that some of these flags, and the ones adorning Tony Pearson’s patch in New Addington, may have been provided by “Operation Raise the Colours”.
The co-founder of this scheme is Andrew Currien, also known as Andy Saxon, a long-time ally of Stephen Yaxley Lennon, the serial criminal who calls himself Tommy Robinson.
Currien was previously a member of the English Defence League’s “bodyguard team”, and he now runs security for the far-right Britain First party.
“Across the country, many of the small groups that have come together to raise the flags are being organised by well-known far-right extremists,” Hope Not Hate has reported.
“Britain First claims to have provided many of the flags in the North West. ‘Britain First has, so far, donated 75% of its flag stock to local teams in Manchester and the West Midlands for “Operation Raise The Colours”,’ tweeted [Britain First] leader Paul Golding.”
There is nothing wrong with raising the Union flag or cross of St George (provided the usual niceties of having the owner’s prior permission). Despite deliberately provocative claims to the contrary, it has never been illegal to be proud to be English or British.
And not everyone who has raised a flag in the past few weeks will be far-right.
The wonders of AI: the flag-shaggers and roundabout painters have been targets for parody
“But the fact that much of this wave of activism is being organised by well-known racists and extremists does raise questions about the motivations behind much of Operation Raise the Colours,” Hope Not Hate says.
Which makes the position of an elected councillor in supporting the unlawful hoisting of such flags all the more concerning.
On the flags issue this week, when a resident asked if such flags were allowed, portly Pearson weighed in: “I think they look good. The council will not remove them unless they block sight lines or are in a position that could distract.”
And he also wrote: “The Union flags that have been placed on lampposts along Central Parade look great.” He compared the appearance of these flags to the respectful commemorations of VJ Day last month, and seemed to suggest that these flags might remain in place through to Remembrance Day, which is more than two months away.
Councillor Pearson has form in this respect: he was previously banned from Croydon Tory online groups for his anti-migrant postings. Which might explain why the flag posts were removed by this morning.
Read more: Council refuses to remove England flags from Coulsdon Road
Read more: Perry’s Piles: Council refuses to act on 30 dumped mattresses
Read more: ‘Busted’: Mayor’s video shows rubbish contractors are failing
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He will want the area changed to Nuremberg Addington next and demand a Rally.
Prefer to see St George’s and Union Jack than the other flags.
What other flags, Martin? What other flags are you seeing, and where?
Is it just all inside your head?
Pearson is well known for being a wise pranker. Or something like that. For example https://insidecroydon.com/2014/01/29/palace-fans-protest-against-harassment-from-croydon-council
He’d soon be complaining and demanding removal if these flags were ones he didn’t approve of such as if people started putting up the EU flag on public property.
When did the so called law and order party turn into the illegal and disorderly party? If people want to raise the flag of St George, the Union or for that matter EU or Turkish flags, why not do it on your own property rather than property that belongs to all of us?
I’m not usually into ad hominem but I’ll make an exception here, he looks like the megabus mascot!
Good articles on this.
It’s absolutely revolting. They begin at Lodge Lane, just past the entrance to the field, a don’t end until the Dunley Drive turnoff. Most of them are near trees, so hang limply, they are unsightly rags.
It is a shameful sight; it screams: “English only, everyone else, go away, you don’t belong here!”, barely a step away from the old “no blacks, no Irish, no dogs” signs of yore. It is spiteful, divisive, glorifying a long-lost colonial past.
This display is the opposite of what it should represent: all the things that made England a quirky, special place have been wiped under a cloud of nastiness and turpitude.
For shame.