BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL has been accused of reluctance to stop racists putting up Union Jack and St George’s flags across the city.

Stand Up to Racism (SUTR) has urged the local authority to remove the flags put up by Raise the Colours after residents said that the council and police were dragging their heels and giving free rein to the group’s so-called “patriotism.”

It is a “racist campaign masquerading as patriotism,” SUTR co-convener Sabby Dhalu told the Morning Star today.

“It is designed to intimidate communities and has coincided with a rise in racist attacks. Birmingham City Council must act immediately to remove the flags,” she said.

“We welcome the Green Party’s application for an injunction against Raise the Colours and call on all other political parties to support it.”

Raise the Colours began placing flags on lamp-posts, roundabouts and other public infrastructure in Birmingham last summer, denying it was about racism.

But today it emerged that members of Brummies United Against Racism had been highlighting concerns about its conduct for several months.

They told the Guardian that they had met the city council and the West Midlands police and crime commissioner Simon Foster several times in six months, lobbying for the council to seek an injunction against the group.

Green councillor Duncan Ali said that the council was in a “quagmire” over the issue but his party — who are in a minority administration with the Liberal Democrats and Better Birmingham Independent Group — was committed to ensuring action would be taken. 

“There’s a huge amount of evidence of the aggressive, intimidating, violent behaviour of Raise the Colours and that is being used to request an injunction against that organisation,” he said. 

The council said that attaching unauthorised items such as flags to public infrastructure was “not permitted, and any such items will be removed.”

West Midlands police said the decision to remove flags from public infrastructure was a “matter for the local authority or relevant highways agency.”

Mr Foster said: “I have consistently and repeatedly encouraged Birmingham City Council and West Midlands police to take proactive and robust action to prevent and tackle any and all harassment, alarm, distress or other criminal behaviour associated with the illegal erection of flags and that includes an application for a civil injunction.”