England my England, home of the free

[Gob]

An ex-soldier who painted a St George’s flag on his front door was ordered to cover it up by his landlords who claim it could be considered 'offensive' and may bring 'distress' to neighbours.




Steven Rolfe, 52, painted the red and white colours of the English flag on his rented home in Preston, Lancashire, in 2003. He also said he put up hanging baskets to celebrate his love of England and mark his former career in the forces.

But despite being runner-up in a council 'best kept house' competition, he has now received a letter ten years on from an official at property management firm Places for People saying neighbours could be 'alarmed' by the symbol.

The letter also warned the design could place him in a catagory of 'nuisance neighbours' and said it could mean him being evicted if he failed to cover it up.

The landlords have now apologised for calling the flag 'offensive' but said Mr Rolfe must still repaint the door because he does not have the proper permission and the door 'does not meet our decoration specifications'.

In a letter to Mr Rolfe, Neighbourhood Officer Leanne Hardy initially gave him 14 days to repaint the door saying: 'It has been brought to my attention that you have painted your front door in a way that could be considered offensive.'

Mr Rolfe asked for permission to keep the flag but Ms Hardy sent another letter refusing his request and giving him seven days to paint over it in one colour.

She also warned him that failure could mean him being in breach of his tenancy agreement.

In her letter Ms Hardy said the flag design fell foul of rules tackling unruly tenants who caused 'a nuisance, annoyance, disturbance or harassment' of others.

Ms Hardy also said his conduct breached tenancy conditions concerning those tenants who were 'injurious to the interests of neighbours' and those who 'cause distress, alarm or interfere with the peace and comfort of any other person'.

She concluded: 'Whilst I acknowledge that the door may well have been painted like this for some time, it was only brought to my attention recently and I did contact you as soon as it was brought to my attention.

'I believe that it was an outside contractor or partner agency that commented on the door and this was fed back to me as your Neighbourhood Officer.'

But the letters sent to Mr Rofle has sparked outrage amongst his locality in Preston, Lancashire.

Father of one Mr Rolfe, a painter and decorator who served as a private in the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment in Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Canada until 1988 said: 'I’ve had this flag on my door for 10 years and nobody has said anything until now.

'I'm ex-forces and I'm proud to be English. I’m not in the EDL or any other racist group. I’m very angry about this because I could be forced to move out.'

He added: 'I don’t see how anyone can be offended by it. It’s ridiculous and no one has whinged about it previously. It looks like a new housing officer had been appointed and she’s got a big bee in her bonnet about it.

'I couldn’t believe it when I got the letter. We seem to be losing our values in this country and also losing our sense of identity - all in the name of political correctness.

'I have served my country all over the world - yet the country's public officials have gone PC mad. I am far from being racist, I’m just proud of England, that’s all.

'My neighbours say they would like to see more of the St George’s flag about. I just want to fly the flag and be proud. I’ve actually bought two more flags.

'I have had an England door for 10 years and I have never had any problems and none of the neighbours have complained. It’s my way of being patriotic.

'There are Scots living on the street, I have Irish neighbours, Polish, Muslim, Sikhs and Russians and none of them have complained. People don’t know what I have done wrong. It’s absolutely nuts.

Ali Anwar, the Muslim representative on the Preston SAFE Forum and founder of Global Village, which works to encourage community dialogue, said: 'As far as I’m concerned, a man’s home is his castle, and he should be allowed to express himself as he wishes.

'This is political correctness gone mad.

'I don’t see how anyone can be offended by it. It’s ridiculous and no one has whinged about it previously. It looks like a new housing officer had been appointed and she’s got a big bee in her bonnet about it'

'As a Muslim it really frustrates me that organisations become overly politically correct and make issues and tensions where there aren’t any. They don’t speak for the Muslim community.

'The flag of St George needs to be reclaimed from the far right. There is nothing offensive about the flag and anyone who is proud to be English should be able to fly it.'

Former Labour MP David Borrow, who is now a local councillor said: 'The door has been like that a long time and having spoken to the gentleman, I have no reason to believe that he is anything other than a decent member of the community.

'I do not believe that he has intended the door to symbolise anything offensive, and I have heard no specific complaints.

'There are other doors in the city that have flags painted onto them, and there appear to be no problems at all.'

John Clemence, vice president of the Royal Society of St George, said: 'To say that the cross of St George can cause offence needs to be challenged.

'We are seeing more and more of this kind of complaint, and these jobsworths are causing resentment and inciting racial hatred.'

Places for People, which owns the house and runs 143,000 homes across Britain, has since apologised for calling the flag 'offensive' but said Mr Rolfe must still repaint the door because he does not have the proper permission.

A Places for People spokesman said: 'We do apologise for describing the door as offensive, which it is clearly not.

'Under the customer’s tenancy agreement. they can make alterations and additions to their property, including external decoration, so long as they gain written consent from ourselves and meet our decoration specifications.

'We have asked Mr Rolfe to repaint his door as he has not requested our permissions and his door does not meet our decoration specifications. We are happy to discuss any future changes he may wish to make to his rented property.'

[Jarlaxle]

Paint the door chartreuse with purple and orange polka dots.

[Econoline]

I'd imagine that however the door is painted, one simply can't do it without the landlord's permission.

[Lord Jim]

They should probably outlaw displaying the Union Jack in the UK....

I'm sure a lot of folks find it offensive and intimidating, and we don't want anyone's feelings hurt.

[dales]

Only the UN flag need be displayed.

There is no place for tribal nationalism in the 21st Century.

gloria del manos

[Lord Jim]

[liberty]

Nelson the strong, Nelson the brave, Nelson the Lord of the sea. Sorry people how could I say something so offensive to the French not to mention all of the colonial people the English oppressed for so long. The Pakistani flag should be painted on the door instead.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Nelson the strong, Nelson the brave, Nelson the Lord of the sea.

OK liberty, now that's carrying Mandela worship too far!



Here's your door....

[liberty]

Nelson the strong, Nelson the brave, Nelson the Lord of the sea.

OK liberty, now that's carrying Mandela worship too far!



Here's your door....

Well General, I am glad you think so, but if you focused on the right Nelson and you are English maybe not. After all, adulation of your ancestors is more appropriate than the living.

[Rick]

It's a rent house, buy his own then who cares?

[oldr_n_wsr]

It's a rent house, buy his own then who cares?

Just don't buy in a gated community around here. They have rules on everything.

[Crackpot]

most housing has association rules nowadays. some more stringent than others.

[dales]

Soldier Brandon Weir Must Take Down American Flag, HOA Demands

By Graham Wood


Does displaying an American flag in front of your home affect its value? Well, one condominium association in Huntsville, Ala., seems to think it does -- negatively. And that's why it's demanding that a soldier who lives there remove the American flag that he put up in front of his home, local station WHNT-TV reported.

The quiet complex of Stepping Stone Condominiums is in an uproar after resident and Army Staff Sgt. Brandon Weir received a note from its condo association saying: "Your flag attached to stairs has to be removed ASAP!" Stepping Stone contends that the flag display is in violation of its HOA's bylaws. But residents have rallied behind Weir and his wife, who are refusing to remove their flag. Carol Coffey, president of the Stepping Stone Association, said the rules against outdoor displays are in place to preserve property values -- it's not personal.

"I served in Afghanistan, I served in Iraq and I served in Kuwait," Coffey told WHNT. "I am not anti-veteran, and I am not a communist." Coffey said that since the story has gone viral (Weir posted the note that he received to multiple veteran-advocacy Facebook pages), she has received numerous phone calls and emails, some of them threatening.

Weir's supporters are making their case by pointing to The Right to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, which prohibits real estate associations from adopting any laws that prevent members from displaying the flag. However, the act does make certain exceptions for condominium associations. Coffey said Stepping Stone adopted its rules against outdoor displays of any kind because "people could put anything out here if we let them."

Still, a group of activists rushed to Weir's side, with several forming a flag line in front of the condominium in protest. Mark Hooper, one of the protesters, told WAAY-TV in Huntsville: "Because we are a group of patriots who support America and the American flag and all it stands for, we feel the flag should be displayed anywhere at any time." Weir and his family declined to speak on camera.

Coffey hasn't been too thrilled with the response to the condominium association's appeal to have the flag removed. "I think they are persecuting us without knowing all the facts," she said. "And here's one thing that really bothers me: This person got the letter from the management team, and instead of coming to the board and expressing his concern, he went and posted something ... without us knowing anything about it. And now we're being threatened. That's not right."

Coffey said that the HOA is now considering amending its rules allowing a certain number of flags to be displayed in front of a certain number of units. "We haven't done that yet -- we're just considering it," she added. This isn't the first time American flags have gotten homeowners and condo residents in trouble. A 75-year-old woman in New Jersey was being threatened with eviction last year by her senior housing complex after she hung three small American flags from her balcony. And in 2011, an Oregon vet's housing complex told him that he would have to leave if he didn't stop putting up American flags on Veterans Day.