Nationalist group leaders agree to stop hoisting St George’s flags in Oxfordshire

Raise the Colours have also been responsible for hanging St George’s flags on lamp-posts in suburbs of Birmingham, pictured, and some villages in Worcestershire. Photograph: Jacob King/PA View image in fullscreen Raise the Colours have also been responsible for hanging St George’s flags on lamp-posts in suburbs of Birmingham, pictured, and some villages in Worcestershire. Photograph: Jacob King/PA Nationalist group leaders agree to stop hoisting St George’s flags in Oxfordshire Representatives of Raise the Colours appeared in court after local council accused them of intimidating staff Leaders of the nationalist group Raise the Colours have agreed to stop hoisting England flags from lamp-posts in Oxfordshire after the local authority sought a high court injunction against the campaign . Ryan Bridge, Ben Cullen and Trudy Wells told the high court on Tuesday they would not raise St George’s flags from Oxfordshire county council property, encourage others to do so or impede council workers from taking them down. Cullen told the court that a fourth leader of the group, Kevin Good, who was not present in court, had also agreed to have “nothing more to do with flags” in Oxfordshire. Mr Justice Dias indicated he would be willing to support the council’s application for an injunction against unauthorised flag raising against the four defendants as well as “persons unknown”, subject to the wording of the order being agreed. View image in fullscreen Ryan Bridge attends an event discussing immigration, hosted by Policy Exchange, in Westminster, London last week. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA The Raise the Colours campaign has been putting up flags across the country since August last year, the court heard. Bridge, who like all three defendants was representing himself, told the court the council were using “bullying tactics” but he agreed to the proposed terms of the injunction. He said: “It is a sad day for the flag or country and what it represents.” Seeking clarification from the judge about what could amount to encouraging others to raise flags from lampposts, he said: “My worry is that by putting a flag up for the football tonight that would be encouraging others. That’s outrageous. It’s outrageous that I’m here.” Dias said Bridge could continue erecting flags from his own property as he was “legally entitled to do”. At the start of the hearing, Cullen said: “My position is I would still like to keep putting flags up in Oxfordshire.” Later, he said: “I will not do it in future in Oxfordshire.” Wells said: “I’m not going to have anything to do with the flags any more.” Documents submitted to the court by the Liberal Democrat-led council said it was seeking to ban “attaching flags or causing flags to be attached to highway structures; painting or marking flags on the highway; obstructing officers or contractors from removing flags from highway structures; and causing harassment, alarm or distress to officers or contractors who are or have been involved in