Remove ‘offensive’ Union Jack charity badges, hospital security guards told

Hospital security guards who fastened Union Jack badges to their stab-proof vests were told by management to remove the symbols following a complaint.

The badges were from a charity that supports the families of police officers killed in the line of duty.

The report in Breitbart News cited a whistleblower who had originally told the Bristol Post of the order handed down by University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust.

It was claimed that 12 guards received an email from their employer telling them to take the badges off.

“After a complaint from a member of the general public you are to remove the Union Jacks from stab vests,” the Post reported the email as saying.

The distinctive blue and white Union Jack badges originated from the charity Care of Police Survivors (COPS).

The source described the badges as “a recent thing” added when the guards got new vests with a Velcro patch where they could be fastened.

“It is an insult to the British people that they are having to be taken off.

All the security staff are upset about it and cannot quite believe there has been a complaint.

“The staff are doing their best for everyone in the hospital, trying to keep people safe and a complaint like this is made.

“Personally I find it offensive that someone is offended that much by the Union Jack,” the source said.

A Trust spokesperson told the Post that official policy “says that uniforms cannot be altered or personalised and that only professional badge adornments are permitted.”

“Security staff were therefore reminded of this and asked to remove any non-authorized badges or symbols from their uniforms,” they added.