LONDON: The dispute over British identity and the national flag is the latest issue deepening political divisions in the United Kingdom in 2025. As the Labour government faces growing criticism on multiple fronts—from curbing free speech to its immigration policies—many Britons are anxious about their country’s future.

The issue simmered over the summer amid concerns of a widening rift between ruling elites and the public focused on the national flag. While the debate has dragged on for years, it gained new momentum after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, mass terror attack on Israel sparked anti-Israel protests, leading to a proliferation of Palestinian flags across Britain.

Tensions flared further over the display of Palestinian flags on public buildings, with critics arguing this amounts to abandoning traditional British values and that immigrant communities are dictating local norms. Several major city councils—all with large immigrant populations, including Bradford and others—yielded to public pressure last month and raised the Palestinian flag to mark the UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

“There’s only one flag that should be flying on public buildings in the U.K., and I include the home nations of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and that’s the Union flag. We need to start cohering around national stories and symbols, and the flag is the simplest, most visual, visceral way of doing that,” Colin Brazier, a commentator on British culture, told Digital.

Brazier is calling for a “strategy of national cohesion” that would ban foreign flags on taxpayer-funded buildings. He said Britain should follow America’s nation-building model as the U.K. grapples with “imported disintegration” and seeks to return to its core values.

Current guidance indicates councils should prioritize the Union flag.

In August, a group of concerned citizens launched ‘Operation Raise the Colours,’ urging people to display flags in their homes and daily lives to rally Britons. The online movement encouraged continued display of England’s St. George’s Cross and the Union Jack.

Yet the sudden resurgence of British and English flags has been met with suspicion and criticism from the left, where many objecting to the flag proliferation claim they symbolize anti-immigration and far-right sentiment.

Critics warn the U.K. is growing increasingly divided—so much so that flying the Union flag in public is now controversial—and that parts of the country seem more focused on causes thousands of miles away.

The flag controversy persisted after Prime Minister Keir Starmer recognized a Palestinian state in September. Days later, Starmer delivered an impassioned speech at the Labour Party’s annual conference as his center-left party pushed back against claims it had abandoned patriotism.

Speaking to flag-waving supporters, Starmer sought to revive his party’s patriotic roots, telling a cheering crowd: “Let’s fly all our flags, conference, because they are our flags, they belong to all of us and we will never surrender them… And with resolve, with respect, with the flag in our hands, we will renew this country.” He also clarified the flag belongs to all citizens, noting: “Our flags — flying proudly, as we celebrate differences and oppose racism.”

Opposition politicians quickly dismissed Starmer’s flag speech, with Lee Anderson, Reform’s chief whip and a Member of Parliament, saying: “You’re more likely to see a Labour member fly the flag of Palestine than a St. George’s flag. That tells you all you need to know,” the Daily Telegraph reported.

While many councils ignored Digital’s request for comment, Belfast City Council in Northern Ireland justified its decision by stating the flag was hoisted “In recognition of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, to erect the national flag of Palestine above the City Hall on the next available day from midnight.”

This issue is also seen as a symbol of shifting power. Brazier lamented the government’s indifferent attitude toward immigration, saying “importing 10 million people in 25 years has a ruinous impact.”

According to a March 2025 report by , the country’s Muslim population increased by 1.2 million between 2011 and 2021, accounting for about 6% of the U.K. population.

A recent poll found mixed views on the Union flag and England’s St. George’s Cross. Fifty-eight percent of 2024 Labour voters perceive the English flag as a racist symbol, compared to just 19% of Conservative voters and 8% of Reform voters. A majority of ethnic minority adults (55%) believe those displaying St. George’s flags are “mostly as a way of expressing anti-migrant and/or anti-ethnic minority sentiment,” with 41% saying the same of the Union flag.

It also found that “White adults too tend to believe anti-migrant/minority motivations are primarily behind the flag raisings, with 49% saying so for the English flag and 39% for the British one.”

Another YouGov study finding showed those of Pakistani or Bangladeshi heritage were “the most likely to see racist sentiment in the flag displays. This is particularly marked when it comes to the belief that the England flag has become a racist symbol with 68% of Pakistani/Bangladeshi adults believing this, compared to 54% of those of mixed ethnicity, 51% of those with Indian heritage and 43% of Black adults.”

Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.