Restaurant bans
On Sept. 23, 2025, Minsk Courier editor-in-chief Kiryl Kazakou spoke on the program “Current Microphone” on the First National Channel of Belarusian Radio about censorship and restrictions the British government had supposedly imposed on its citizens.
“In Britain, after a certain hour — I think after 6 p.m. — girls under 16 are not allowed in fast-food restaurants because they could provoke an attack on themselves. For that, girls can be simply arrested and have their phones checked,” Kazakou said.
He also added that in the country “you can’t wave the flag of Britain or England”:
“Because it fuels racial hatred toward those who have come there. And such statements are made by mayors of cities who are of Indian or Pakistani origin. Or by the interior minister, who also represents one of the minorities that are rapidly becoming the majority in Britain.”
The WTF team checked all of these claims.
Who's behaving antisocially?
In some parts of the country, restrictions were indeed placed on visiting fast-food restaurants, but not exclusively for girls — for all minors without adult supervision. In Edinburgh the ban started at 5 p.m., while in the Scottish towns of Peterhead and Fort William it began at 6 p.m. The reason was the teenagers’ own antisocial behavior: they made noise, picked fights, and insulted staff and other customers. These restrictions were introduced in 2022.
Flag — a banned symbol?
As for flags: there is indeed debate in the country about the appropriateness of using the English flag — the red cross on a white background. After the local women’s team won Euro 2025, far-right groups began carrying it at anti-migrant protests. However, there is no law in Britain that bans the use of national symbols.
The modern flag of the United Kingdom, known as the Union Jack, is a combination of three patron saints’ crosses: the red cross of St. George on a white background (England), the white diagonal cross of St. Andrew on a blue background (Scotland), and the red diagonal cross of St. Patrick on a white background (Ireland). The first version appeared in 1606 and included only the English and Scottish symbols. The current design dates to 1801, when the cross of St. Patrick was added after the legislative union of Britain and Ireland. Wales is not separately represented on the flag because by the time the Union Jack was created, the principality had already been joined with England and was no longer a separate kingdom.
Interior minister opposed
Since Sept. 5, 2025, the post of Britain’s home secretary has indeed been held by Shabana Mahmood, the daughter of Pakistani immigrants. A video surfaced on social media in which she allegedly said, “People who walk around with the English flag are bad people, they want to divide us.” It was shared, among others, by the Belarusian Telegram channel Shkvarka News. The WTF team found that the quote in the video was taken out of context.
The quote was taken from Mahmood’s speech at the Labour Party conference in 2017. In the full video, she was talking about the radical English Defence League (EDL), which uses England’s flag in its demonstrations. She stressed that such groups seek to divide society and that it is important to “take back the flag from bad people” and restore its positive meaning.
