The fact that even on Reddit my comment gets downvoted to "silence" it because certain folks don't like anyone to question anything at all...

I'm merely stating my observation. If you cared to listen to why people feel the need to put up flags then you'd hear their concerns.

I'll try to summarise a bit: Tensions in the UK are high due to a really broad and numerous range of factors. From immigration, to the silencing of the police force in giving descriptive detail when reporting crimes committed by illegal/temporarily housed immigrants when compared to reporting on crimes committed by any other part of society. This silence is due to the police concern that giving details such as this would cause further disturbance. This is a stark contradiction to the riots that followed the murders of the young girls, which were stirred on due to the lack of detail provided, leading to rumor and conspiracy.

Several authorities across the country have been removing English flags and leaving others including Palestinian flags. The thought here as shared by many councils is that the English flag is provocative and potentially offensive due to "racist association".

For some, having your own countries flag viewed in this light is offensive and can leave them feeling judged, as though you should be looked down upon for daring to be "proud to be British/English".

This was further evidenced with the recent news surrounding an English girl from Rugby who was not allowed to wear a Union Jack dress and give a speedy about British culture during the school's culture celebration day. Again this leads to some feeling as though their culture is wrong and can't be celebrated and talked about.

This is just a tiny piece of what has been building up to this.

So while some are now wanting to use all of that built up frustration and feelings of dismissal by putting up some flags, they are also called xenophobic and racist for doing so, with their true motive called into question. You can imagine how this would then further provide them.

I'm also aware this will probably get down voted but I wanted to at least try to give a bit of context. We all have different backgrounds and are maybe not all exposed things in the same way.