A “highly respected” member of the Biddulph community has said she feels “unsafe” living in the UK — for the first time in 25 years.
At a meeting of the town council last Tuesday, members agreed to write a letter urging Staffordshire County Council to take down Union and St George’s Cross flags that had been “illegally” attached to lampposts and street furniture.
The motion was raised by Coun Jim Garvey, after he said he had received several complaints from residents who felt the flags had been put up as more than just a symbol of national pride.
Speaking at the meeting, he said: “Let us not pretend that the illegal attachment of flags and political banners to road signs and lampposts around our town is some sort of outpouring of patriotic fervour.”
He explained that the wave of activism that had swept across the country since August was down to Operation Raise the Colours – a campaign organised by allies of, and promoted by, Stephen Yaxley Lennon (otherwise known as Tommy Robinson) and his long-term supporter Andrew Currien, a former member of the far-right English Defence League.
Coun Garvey said: “Let’s be clear. There is nothing wrong with raising the Union Flag or St George’s Cross legally on your own property, and despite what some claim on social media, it is not illegal to be proud to be English or British.
“However, the wave of activism that’s being organised by well-known racists and extremists does raise questions about the motivation behind the operation.
“It is this weaponising of our national colours which most concerns me; using the flag as a weapon rather than as a symbol of our national pride.”
He added: “These actions are not patriotism. They’re frankly disrespectful, and that is an embarrassment to our town. That is not what Biddulph is about.”
The Rev Yan Yan Case, who recently became a member of the town council as well as serving as the minister for Biddulph, Hill Top, New Road and Mow Cop Methodist churches, thanked Coun Garvey for raising the motion.
She said: “As one of the ethnic minorities who lives in Biddulph, after living in the UK for more than 25 years, this is the first time I have felt unsafe in my personal life.”
And she added: “This atmosphere in society makes me even question the future for me in this country, and in Biddulph.
“It is a white majority community, so people like me who are very visible when we go outside are easily targeted.”
Threatening
She said that while she had received support from members of the church and the community, she had also seen “threatening” comments on social media.
She said: “We all know what the agenda is here. It’s not just about flying flags and I don’t think they represent the people of Biddulph. I would feel grateful, warmed and encouraged for the town council to make a statement on this.”
She then received a round of applause from members.
Coun Wayne Rogers said: “I wasn’t going to speak, but now Coun Case has said that, I feel upset to say the least.
“I don’t know who these flags are aimed at but if Coun Case, who is a highly respected minister of our town, has those feelings this has got to be sorted out as soon as possible.”
Coun John Jones, who said he had flown a Union Flag in his back garden for the past 50 years, agreed and added that he felt “touched” by Coun Case’s comments.
Coun Nigel Yates said: “I’m embarrassed because of the subtext of this flag-flying; it’s not patriotic.”
He said he felt proud to have attended flag-raising ceremonies last year as Biddulph’s mayor, where “professional” flags were flown “high and proud at an appropriate time and place”.
He said: “These flags are being thrown up half-mast and upside down by people sneaking around in balaclavas in the middle of the night.
“They are imported, cheap copies of our national symbol and it is totally unacceptable.
“In Gillow Heath, many care facilities are manned by ethnic minorities and I shudder to think what they feel driving to work through Chell and Fegg Hayes. This is not what we want for members of our community.”
The town council agreed to instruct chief officer Sarah Haydon to write to Staffordshire County Council leader Ian Cooper and chief executive officer Pat Flaherty.
Ms Case was born in China and arrived in the UK 19 years ago. She told the “Methodist Recorder” that since coming to this country as a migrant she had never felt she has faced opposition. She described life as “smooth and positive”.
She studied at the University of Central Lancashire as a member of the Christian Union. It was there she also met her husband and they were married at Central Methodist church in Preston.
They went to live in Derby after university and worshipped at a Methodist church. A retired minister encouraged her to become a full-time Methodist minister. She went to The Queen’s College ecumenical theological institution in Birmingham and previously served at Arnold in the Nottingham and Derby District of the Methodist Church.
