'They're embarrassed to be British!' Iain Duncan Smith blasts councils for removing patriotic flags - 'Couldn't make it up'

Tower Hamlets council has come under fire for removing flags of St George, which they claimed was part of a "responsibility to monitor and maintain council infrastructure".

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Discussing the decision on GB News, Mr Duncan Smith stated: "It's significant in one regard, if, of course, these councils prepared to leave other flags up, such as the pro-Palestinian flags, and not doing anything about that.

"Then suddenly, when somebody wants to put up essentially a British flag, part of the Union Jack, to celebrate their sense of Britishness, then they want to take that down."

He pointed to Birmingham as a particularly striking example, where authorities struggled to provide basic services yet mobilised resources for flag removal.

The former Tory leader added: "And it does seem to me a bizarre and peculiar situation. We've seen it in Birmingham, where they couldn't find anybody to empty the bins, but have managed to find a load of people to go and take the flags down. You couldn't make this up if you tried."

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Criticising British councils, Mr Duncan Smith argued that numerous local authorities feel uncomfortable with expressions of British or English identity, a stance he argues fails to reflect public sentiment.

He said: "The fact is, too many of the councils seem to be embarrassed by the idea of being British, or even being English, and the reality there is that that doesn't represent then the majority of the British population.

"So I simply say, people should get permission to put flags up, but that would account for every flag. But at the same time, putting them up like that doesn't mean that you take one down you dislike and the other one, which you're quite happy with, and leave it up."

The MP advocated for uniform regulations that apply to all flags without discrimination.

Mr Duncan Smith told GB News: "There has to be a policy, and these people are making it up as they go along. I think, like everything else, there needs to be a rule for everybody. So if you are a council that does not believe in putting flags up except at special occasions, you should make that clear.

"In which case, then people should apply for permission and put them up. They shouldn't discriminate against different national flags."

Highlighting an ongoing issue with integration in Britain, Mr Duncan Smith concluded: "I think one of the biggest mistakes we made was to allow communities to develop separately, to develop a separate identity, to not inculcate a concept of being British.

"You can't say the Palestinian flag, which is for a state that doesn't exist, somehow is okay, and putting up the English Cross of St George is wrong. The reality is, it looks to me more that they're aggravated by the idea of it being a cross of St George, which many people on the left absolutely hate, but at the same time happy to go with something which is a protest flag which has nothing to do with the UK."