Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has boasted of owning Union Jack and St George's flag "bunting and tablecloths" ...
In response to being asked whether she had a flag hanging in her home, the Home Secretary listed off several flags and accessories decorating her home.
It comes after the Prime Minister said he hangs the English flag in his home and "always sits in front of a Union jack".
Asked whether people putting up the Union and St George’s Cross flags in the wake of asylum hotel protests could be considered racist, he said he was “very encouraging” of people putting up national flags, but warned against devaluing and belittling them.
Asked on BBC Breakfast if she had a flag hanging in her home, Cooper said: "We actually have Union Jack bunting on our garden shed, at the moment.
"I've got St George's flags, St George's bunting. I've got the Yorkshire Rose bunting, as well. I've got Union Jack flags and tablecloths, we've got the lot."
Asked if she's got a flag on display in her home, the Home Secretary says she has Union Jack bunting, St Georges flags, St Georges bunting, and Union Jack flags and tablecloths. pic.twitter.com/gvYsfMqOrf
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) September 2, 2025
Campaigners have been putting up flags on lampposts following an online movement called “Operation Raise the Colours”.
Flags have been taken down in Tower Hamlets in east London as well as Birmingham.
Starmer has been accused of “legitimising” far-right protests outside of hotels housing asylum seekers, with his actions being described as “shameful and beyond reckless”.
Cooper also said ministers believe asylum hotels can be emptied in advance of the end of the current Parliament.
On Monday, Starmer said he wanted to move all asylum seekers out of hotel accommodation before his Government’s deadline of the end of the Parliament, which could last until 2029.
Asked when ministers would meet the goal, Home Secretary Cooper told Times Radio: “Our manifesto commitment was to do so over the course of the Parliament, but we do want that to be earlier, and we’ve been working for some time.
“We do believe it can be done earlier.
“It’s dependent on a whole series of factors, so we’re not setting out precise timetables. What we are doing is setting out the steps that we are taking.”
These steps include an overhaul of the appeals system, Cooper said, as well as other measures she announced in the Commons on Monday.
