LONDON: A video showing a woman arguing with a member of staff at a London pub after being denied entry because she was wearing a badge depicting the Palestinian flag is spreading on social media.
In the footage, apparently filmed on Saturday, the woman is in a heated argument with the employee at the entrance to The Red Lion in Westminster, while a security guard blocks the door and listens to their exchange.
The woman points to the Palestine flag on her jacket and says: “If I was wearing an American flag or an English flag or a Ukrainian flag, you would not ask me to remove it — that would be considered offensive.
“If I was wearing a rainbow flag or a pride flag, you wouldn’t stop me. No, you wouldn’t.”
The staff member repeatedly replies: “Yes, I would.”
The Red Lion, which is close to Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament, is said to be a popular venue with politicians and civil servants.
A spokesperson for pub told the Daily Mail newspaper: “The location of this pub, on Whitehall, means it is frequently on the route of protests from all sides of the political divide.
“We are a place that is open to all and we want to ensure that everyone is equal inside the pub and that we remain neutral.
“Therefore, the management team in the pub took the decision, some years ago, to ask customers to remove all flags, badges and overt political slogans, whatever the cause, before entering the pub itself.”
