Sarah Sackman wants 'unsettling' Finchley flags down
Labour courts minister Sarah Sackman has urged Barnet Council to remove Union Jack and St George's flags from lamp posts after constituents in the Sarah Sackman Finchley flags dispute called the displays unsettling, intimidating and othering. She says the unauthorised flags should come down now the 2026 World Cup is over.
Key Takeaways
- Sarah Sackman asked Barnet Council to take down Union and St George's flags from public lamp posts in Temple Fortune and Golders Green.
- She said residents described the flags as unsettling, intimidating and othering, and linked the national flag wave to far-right campaigns.
- Shopkeeper Jack Miller, who helped put flags up, said the MP does not speak for him and that the flags show pride, not intimidation.
- Barnet Council said it celebrates the Union flag but will not divert scarce resources to remove such flags unless health and safety require it.
The row erupted after Sackman, MP for Finchley and Golders Green and a justice minister, wrote in the Barnet Post that the World Cup's end meant it was time to call "full time on the flags." Coverage of the dispute has also filtered into wider Future Tech & AI Wonders debate about how symbols travel online.
Why did Sarah Sackman demand the flags come down?
Sackman said St George's and Union Jacks had been hoisted on public lamp posts without permission long before the tournament, and that huge numbers have appeared on public property across Barnet since September.
In her words, for many locals the flags "do not feel like a symbol of national pride" but are "a source of division and intimidation." Messages she received, she wrote, called them "unsettling, intimidating and othering."
She argued the Temple Fortune display did not happen in a vacuum, citing Operation Raise the Colours and claiming support from Britain First and Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (Tommy Robinson). She said Raise the Colours had not expressly claimed the Barnet flags, but that contractors faced abuse when removals began.
She also said she had been proud to fly the flag in her government office during the World Cup and King Charles's visit to Golders Green, insisting people may fly flags on their own property while "public places must belong to all."
How have residents and critics pushed back?
According to The Telegraph, residents Jack and Deborah Miller said they had hoisted the flags and criticised her comments. Mrs Miller called the remark itself divisive, asking: "We're proud Jews. What's wrong with the flag?"
The Jewish Chronicle reported that Jack Miller, 51, a shopkeeper who helped raise Union Jacks in Golders Green and Temple Fortune, said the MP calling for them to be pulled down "does not speak for me." He framed the display as pride in British heritage, noting synagogue prayers for the Royal family and the military.
The Spectator questioned why unauthorised Iranian (and some Israeli) free-Iran flags on a Golders Green road drew no similar demand for removal, arguing Sackman's real objection targeted the Union Jack rather than permission alone.
What has Barnet Council said about the lamp-post flags?
A council spokesman said Barnet "celebrates with pride" the national flag and flies the Union flag daily above its offices and Hendon town hall. Lamp-posts, it said, are not designed to hold flags safely.
Policy remains to remove flags where safety is a concern, but the council will not spend scarce resources removing Union or English flags from lamp-posts unless health and safety require it, ideally alongside routine maintenance.
Oxfordshire County Council recently won a legal battle to end flag flying from lamp-posts, underscoring how local authorities nationwide are wrestling with the same unauthorised displays.