Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer declined to rule out withdrawing his support for hanging St George’s flags from lampposts during a visit to an arson-hit mosque on Thursday, as the contentious flag campaign continues to divide opinion across Britain.
The Prime Minister made the remarks during a visit to Peacehaven Mosque in East Sussex, which was targeted in a suspected arson attack on 4 October. The mosque’s front entrance was set ablaze by masked attackers, causing significant damage but no injuries to worshippers inside.
When questioned about whether he still backs flag displays that some local councils have labelled “intimidating”, Sir Keir told reporters that a minority were using the national symbol to cause division. “I’m very proud of that flag, and it’s really important that we don’t surrender our flag to anyone,” the Prime Minister said.
He added: “Those that use the flag to divide and are only using it to divide are devaluing our flag, and we mustn’t let that happen.”
The comments come as the “Operation Raise the Colours” campaign, which encourages Britons to display the Union Flag and St George’s Cross in public spaces, has sparked fierce debate about patriotism, racism and national identity. The grassroots movement, which began in August, has seen flags tied to lampposts and painted onto roundabouts across England.
Sir Keir confirmed he continues to fly the flag at 10 Downing Street, stating: “People will put out their flags for different reasons. So we can’t generalise all this. Very many people have a flag.”
The Prime Minister drew a direct link between divisive flag displays and recent attacks on places of worship. Here we are in a mosque that was subject to an arson attack, a place of worship we had the terrible attack in the synagogue just a few weeks ago in Manchester, it’s really important at times like this that we demonstrate the real Britain, who we are as a country, and bring people together,” he told the BBC.
The attack on Peacehaven Mosque occurred on the evening of 4 October, when two individuals were captured on CCTV spraying accelerant on the front door before setting it alight. Sussex Police have arrested three men aged 34, 38 and 42 on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, who remain in custody.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood described the attack as “appalling” and said it “could easily have led to an even more devastating outcome. The Government announced £10 million in additional funding for the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme following the incident.
During the visit, relatives of a mosque member who fled from inside when the door was torched told the Prime Minister he has become withdrawn after the incident.
The flag controversy has escalated in recent months, with multiple local councils removing displays from public property. Birmingham City Council began removing flags in August, citing maintenance and safety concerns. Tower Hamlets in London and authorities in Liverpool followed suit, prompting accusations of hypocrisy from Conservative politicians who noted Palestinian flags had previously been permitted to remain.
The campaign has drawn support from figures across the political spectrum, but critics argue it has been hijacked by far-right groups. According to advocacy group Hope Not Hate, the campaign was co-founded by individuals with alleged links to the English Defence League and Britain First.
A supply teacher from North Yorkshire claimed he lost his position after hoisting approximately 150 flags around his hometown of Thirsk. Shaun Remmer, 49, a teaching assistant at Welburn Hall School in York, said he was told not to return to work after complaints were made about his flag displays.
North Yorkshire Council wrote to Mr Remmer instructing him to halt the flag-hoisting due to health and safety concerns, warning he would be charged for their removal if he persisted.
Former Conservative MP Ranil Jayawardena condemned the reported dismissal, telling GB News: “No one should be stopped from being a teacher because they hold centre-right views. Simply because someone wants to fly the flags across their community, there’s no reason why they should not be able to teach or support teachers in helping young people thrive.”
The Prime Minister also used Thursday’s visit to reject claims by Conservative MP Katie Lam that multiculturalism has failed in Britain. Ms Lam, the Shadow Home Office minister for the Weald of Kent, recently sparked controversy by suggesting large numbers of legally settled families should be deported to ensure the UK is “culturally coherent.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Ms Lam stated: “There are also a large number of people in this country who came here legally, but in effect shouldn’t have been able to do so. They will also need to go home. What that will leave is a mostly but not entirely culturally coherent group of people.”
Sir Keir told ITV: “I can’t tell you how much I disagree with her. I think that her approach where people who are lawfully in this country, who have been working in our communities, perhaps in our schools, our hospitals, running businesses, our neighbours, people lawfully here. She wants to reach in and remove them from our country for cultural reasons, she says. That is how far the Conservative Party has sunk.
The Peacehaven attack came just days after a terrorist assault on a Manchester synagogue on 2 October, during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Two worshippers, Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were killed when attacker Jihad al-Shamie drove a car into pedestrians before stabbing people outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation. One victim was accidentally shot by police officers responding to the attack.
According to Government statistics, anti-Muslim hate crimes rose by 19 per cent in the year ending March 2025, whilst 44 per cent of all religious hate crimes targeted Muslims.
Akeela Ahmed, chief executive of the British Muslim Trust, said: “Sadly, this is not the case for too many members of our Muslim communities. They have become fearful and apprehensive as their mosques, places dedicated to faith, love and peace, have been vandalised, set on fire and worshippers abused and assaulted.”
The flag debate shows no signs of abating, with supporters arguing displays represent patriotic pride whilst opponents warn they have become symbols of exclusion and intimidation in some communities. The Prime Minister’s refusal to definitively withdraw support for the campaign suggests the Government remains caught between celebrating national identity and preventing its exploitation for divisive purposes.
Follow for more updates on Britannia Daily
Image Credit:
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer gives a press statement — photo by UK Government / No 10 Downing Street, licensed under CC BY 3.0.
