"Big interest": Nottinghamshire Council leader says businesses keen to advertise on £75,000 union flags
The leader of Nottinghamshire Council says he has had 'literally thousands' of people contact him to tell him the decision to put up the flags was a 'lovely thing to do'.
And Coun Mick Barton (Ref) adds that the authority has had ‘big interest from the business community’ in advertising on the union flag banners currently attached to lampposts across the county.
Coun Barton was answering a question posed to him by Mansfield Mayor Andy Abrahams about whether the £75,000 spent on the project could be better spent elsewhere.
The controversial idea to spend money on raising British flags in towns like West Bridgford, Newark and Mansfield – which boasts the most of any district – was announced in September.
It came in the wake of Operation Raise the Colours – a campaign by far-right protestors to display the St George’s Cross across the country in a show of patriotism.
The campaign began amid rising unrest regarding the UK’s immigration policy, following backlash to reports that rising numbers of asylum seekers were arriving in the country illegally.
Many contested the Reform-led council’s plan to use taxpayers’ money to pay for a solely decorative venture.
But Ashfield’s Reform MP Lee Anderson said in December that the taxpayer would not fund any of the cost because the party would get businesses to sponsor the flags, and in January, it was reported that they’d eventually be replaced entirely by business adverts.
In a letter defending the £75,000 banners, Coun Barton said: “I took the decision after making considerable savings to put 180 banners up right across the county.
“These banners will be used for a multitude of purposes, including fostering kinship, adoption and caring programmes, Nottinghamshire Day, Remembrance Day and we also have a big interest from the business community wanting to hire the space.”
His response was read out by Mayor Abrahams at a full meeting of Mansfield Council on Tuesday, February 3.
The question about the rationality of the flag project and its associated cost was suggested by Mansfield Labour councillor Sue Swinscoe on November 16.
Agreeing that he should write to the county council, Mayor Abrahams then formulated a letter comprising numerous questions, which he sent to Coun Barton.
These included questions about flags that ‘appeared overnight’ in Mansfield after Reform won the county council election in May 2025.
The letter asked whether the council had authorised these original flags, whether it had gained consent under the Highways Act 1980 to erect the new banners, and whether the scheme was his idea or whether it had come from more senior leaders in the Reform party.
At the council meeting Mayor Abrahams said: “I believe that your lack of judgment to connect your campaign to what you say is bringing communities together has had the opposite effect and has been divisive.
“Permanent, publicly-funded installations, introduced without any meaningful public consultation, risks sending the wrong message in an already tense climate.”
But Coun Barton continued his response by saying: “At £75,000, I appointed the budget, which covers maintenance, rolling forward an amount of money to take them down at the end of their life.
“The banners we have made at the minute are of the Union flag and we are very proud to fly the flag across the county.
"I have had literally thousands of people contact me to tell me they feel it’s a lovely thing to do.
“Since we have put them up, the public seems to have stopped putting up their own flags.
"From a public safety perspective, I feel this is a good thing.
"Lots of people feel very patriotic at the moment and I believe this is down to how poorly this country has been run for the last three or four decades under both Labour and Conservative administrations.
“Since taking over the council last May, I have initiated an efficiency review which will save over £44m over our administration.
"This will be without any job losses or cuts to services.”