City mayor intervenes in Palestine flag dispute, says officers “overreacted”

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Sir Peter Soulsby has stepped in to stop council officers ordering a Leicester city centre office to take down a Palestine flag.

The flag has reportedly been hung from the National Education Union’s (NEU) office, overlooking the Town Hall Square, for five years.

According to the NEU website, there is significant solidarity for a free Palestine among members.

The NEU also funds the General Union of Palestinian Teachers (GUPT) to organise training sessions on giving emotional support to students traumatised by war.

Former teacher Peter Flack said officers from Leicester City Council first visited in April 2026, asking the flag be removed after a complaint was made.

He said he received further notices insisting its removal in the weeks to follow.

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However, after being made aware of the situation, City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby instructed officers to withdraw their threats.

He said the situation had “every indication” of an “overreaction” from officers, and enforcing this demand would be “disproportionate”.

He said: “Of course, they do try to respond to complaints.

“But I certainly took the view that when the NEU said they didn’t want to take it down, that they were quite entitled to say that – they are the tenants of the property.

“Apparently it’s been there for five years. We’ve had one complaint in those five years and even if it was legal for a landlord to tell a tenant to take down something like that, it doesn’t really seem very proportionate when nobody had even noticed it.

“Irrespective of the flag, it’s something the people should be able to have. So long as they’re not actually doing something that is offensive, advertising a terrorist organization, defaming somebody or writing something obscene, tenants are permitted to enjoy their tenancy.”

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