NEWS FROM ABSURDISTAN: A UK flag-raising group leader has been arrested by Britain’s Fifth Columnist cops on suspicion of causing alarm and distress.

LEFT: Councillor Liz Leffman initiates arrest for raising the British flag.

Ryan Bridge is the co-founder of Raise the Colours, which has been criticized for its so-called anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Life in the Idiocracy

The leader of a flag campaign group has been arrested on suspicion of causing religious and racially aggravated harassment.

Ryan Bridge is the co-founder of Raise the Colours. The campaigning patriots have put up hundreds of Union and Saint George flags across England and attracted criticism for spreading anti-immigrant rhetoric.

The British nationalist was arrested on Tuesday and, after spending nearly 24 hours in the cells, was released on police bail the following day.

In recent days, the Raise the Colours group has posted several videos of its members erecting flags in Oxfordshire.

On Monday, Oxfordshire County Council absurdly issued a legal notice banning the group from putting up flags, arguing it was an ‘act of intimidation and division’.

The world’s gone mad

In a video posted on Facebook after his release, Bridge said: ‘I’ve just been let out – 18-and-a-half hours for a public order section 5 causing people alarm and distress. The world’s gone mad.

‘Me putting the flag up in my country is causing alarm and distress to certain members of the public. It’s an absolute disgrace. We have got to march on, we’ve got to fight on. We’ve got a fight on our hands.’

Ryan Bridge from Raise the Colours speaks during a protest in East Sussex in January. He said his bail conditions included a ban on visiting Oxfordshire.

Thames Valley police confirmed that a 44-year-old male from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, was arrested at about 8.40pm on Tuesday.

In a statement, the police said: ‘Last week, Thames Valley police launched an investigation following reports of incidents of public order offences on Abingdon Road, Oxford.

‘Officers are investigating those public order offences and have arrested a 44-year-old man from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, on suspicion of causing racially and religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress. He has been released on police bail.’

The leader of the council, the Liberal Democrat councillor Liz Leffman, said the ‘scale and persistence of this activity is affecting communities across Oxfordshire’ and residents have reported feeling ‘distressed, unwelcome and unsafe’.

‘The widespread installation of flags by Raise the Colours is not a sign of patriotism. It is an act of intimidation and division that is having a real and damaging impact on our communities,’ Leffman said.

‘Our teams removing the flags, together with residents who have challenged the individuals installing them, have been subject to abuse and threatening behaviour. This is totally unacceptable.’

The council said it would consider all options, including civil and criminal proceedings, if the group did not comply with the letter.

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