Immigration detention staff have been warned that wearing England badges or flags during the World Cup risks intimidating migrants and could damage professional standards — in a ruling that has sparked immediate controversy as the Three Lions prepare to begin their tournament campaign against Croatia next week.
The guidance, contained in a report by the Independent Monitoring Board, found that staff at a short-term holding facility were observed wearing England flags affixed to their uniforms on two separate occasions during the summer of 2025. The IMB warned the displays risked “perceptions of bias or even intimidation among detained people, especially in the light of recent anti-immigration protests in which flag displays were prominent,” and concluded the incidents raised concerns about “professional standards and workplace culture at the facility.”
Short-term holding facilities house migrants with no right to remain in the UK while they await deportation proceedings. The incidents highlighted in the report coincided with the Lionesses retaining the Women’s European Championship with victory over Spain.
The England badge ruling was not the only concern raised in the IMB’s report. Jane Leech, the board’s interim national chair, told the Daily Mail that the wider picture of immigration detention in Britain was one of repeating failures and unresolved problems. “We have seen patterns repeat, warnings ignored, and risks re-emerge in different forms,” she said. “The evidence available to us strongly suggests that many of these longstanding issues are not only unresolved but are becoming more acute.” The report also highlighted concerns about routine handcuffing during transfers, excessive use of force and migrants spending excessive lengths of time in detention.
Leech was direct about the human consequences. “We repeatedly see health deteriorating in closed settings, delays in accessing medical care, rising distress, and vulnerable individuals becoming more unwell the longer detention continues. These are outcomes we observe directly, not theoretical risks.” She called on the Home Office to exercise “stronger oversight and clearer accountability in how detention is used in practice,” warning that without decisive action “people in immigration detention will continue to experience avoidable harm.”
The guidance on England badges comes amid a wider political row over Operation Raise the Colours, a campaign around patriotic displays during the tournament. Asked for the Prime Minister’s view on the St George’s Cross, a Downing Street spokesman said Sir Keir Starmer had “always talked about his pride in being British” and that “patriotism will always be an important thing to him.” The spokesman added: “We put up English flags all around Downing Street every time the English football team, women’s and men’s, are out trying to win games for us.”
