Plymouth Plus can exclusively reveal that Plymouth City Council is now reconsidering its decision not to take enforcement action over a Palestine flag being flown over a Jewish cemetery in Plymouth.
The move follows public complaints to both the police and the local authority and now a legal challenge that argues Plymouth City Council may have breached its statutory duties.
The flag has been raised and taken down at various points since late 2023 and has drawn objections from members of the public, as well as concern from UK Lawyers for Israel.
The Council previously closed its case without taking formal action, stating there was no overriding public interest reason to intervene under planning law.
However, new legal arguments presented by barrister Jonathan Turner, Chief Executive of UK Lawyers for Israel, suggest the Council may have misapplied both planning and equality legislation. Speaking to Plymouth Plus, Turner said:
"The display of the flag is unlawful, being contrary to The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007.
"It is also a criminal offence under section 224(3) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
"I also think that the erection of the flagpole constituted a development requiring planning permission, especially given its height, which I have been informed is over 12 feet, and its location overlooking the cemetery.
"Planning permission does not appear to have been given, so the Council can serve an enforcement notice under section 172 of The Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and take further enforcement action if the notice is not complied with.
"I disagree with the Council’s assessment of the public interest. I think the Council has wrongly failed to take into account that the flagpole was erected by an advocate for the Plymouth Palestine Solidarity Campaign following the atrocities of 7 October 2023, apparently in order to antagonise and cause offence to bereaved Jews visiting the graves of their relatives and friends. "
Turner also argued that the Council may have breached the Equality Act 2010:
"In failing to take these considerations into account, the Council has breached the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, which requires the Council to have due regard in the exercise of its functions to the need to foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not share that characteristic.
"Relevant protected characteristics include Jewish religion and ethnicity and also Zionism as a philosophical belief. The Council should have taken into account that the provocative flying of the Palestinian flag in this location is liable to undermine good relations between Jews and non-Jews."
A spokesperson for Plymouth City Council told Plymouth Plus:
"Our planning team and their legal team will carefully consider the interpretation of the points raised by barrister Jonathan Turner, Chief Executive of UK Lawyers for Israel and will be in touch with the complainant."
This reconsideration follows the earlier decision made by Planning Officer Matthew Barks. In correspondence seen by Plymouth Plus, Barks explained that while the flag may fall outside the scope of deemed consent due to Palestine's status under UK foreign policy, enforcement was not considered expedient.
He also stated that the height of the flagpole would likely be acceptable in principle and compared the flag to a blank billboard, saying that its content fell outside the remit of planning controls.
Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed that they are aware of the situation. A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police told Plymouth Plus:
"Our Diverse Communities Team is aware of this situation and at present no offences are being committed.
"While we understand that some may view this as insensitive, we do not have any powers to force the flag to be taken down.
"Officers have previously engaged with the householder around concerns raised."
The homeowner, Peter Senior, told Plymouth Plus that he raised the flag in protest against the war in Gaza, insisting it represents a personal political statement rather than targeting the Jewish community. He told Plymouth Plus:
“The flag was put up in my garden in about December 2023 approximately 2 months into the military campaign being carried out by Israel against the people of Gaza."
Addressing claims of insensitivity, particularly due to the flag’s location, Senior said:
"I believe it is an antisemitic trope to say that all Jews throughout the world support The Zionist regime’s genocidal behaviour.
"There has been a campaign to conflate criticism of the Zionist regime with antisemitism by Israel and the few countries that support their actions.
"This is a dangerous and cynical ploy that clearly will increase the incidents of antisemitism occurring.
"I am sorry if Jewish people consider my action with the flag as antisemitic. This is not the case.”
He continued:
“The intention of the flag is to show my support of the innocents who have now suffered 18 months of horrific treatment.
"To express my objection to my government’s response to this outrage and to elicit conversations with anybody who wishes to engage with me.
"I particularly would love to discuss with the people who find my flag insensitive and they are welcome to knock on my door at any time.”
Senior also reported incidents of vandalism and personal abuse, some of which occurred while he was caring for his terminally ill wife:
“I have suffered various attacks for my stance including: Smashing the top of the garden wall and planting in order to tear down numerous flags, throwing of paint over the wall, throwing of beeping and flashing electronic devices into the garden and Sinister letters from Zionists.
"These actions occurred during the period when I was caring for my beautiful wife with terminal cancer.
"Following her death I received social media messages mocking my loss.”
Commenting on the police response, he said:
“The initial police response was to send round two cars to question me as to why the flag.
"This I found to be disturbing as this is the sort of action you expect of a police state.
"I explained to both officers exactly why I had the flag and that I was concerned by my government’s inappropriate response to the ongoing genocide.”
UK Lawyers for Israel are preparing a formal legal submission to Plymouth City Council and the police. Similar flags have been removed by other local authorities such as Tower Hamlets, following legal warnings from UK Lawyers for Israel.
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