West Northamptonshire Council votes through new flag protocol
A council has approved a "divisive" policy change which will mean it no longer fly an LGBTQ+ rainbow flag from any of its buildings.The newly elected Reform UK administration on West Northamptonshire Council made changes to the local authority's flag protocol after coming to power last month, and it was formally passed on Thursday.Council leader Mark Arnull said its "revised approach ensures consistent and respectful use of public buildings."But Conservative councillor David Smith called on the authority to "think again" on the protocol, which dictates that only the union jack, St George's flag and council flag will be flown outside its buildings.
The administration previously said it remained "committed to supporting community-led events and activities", including Pride, despite the change of policy.In Thursday's full council meeting at the Guildhall in Northampton, 40 ward councillors voted in favour of the new policy and 26 against it, while one councillor abstained.Under the new flag protocol, the council said additional flags would be flown on specified dates for royal or national occasions.It is flying flags this week to mark Armed Forces Day, but no flag has been flown to reflect this month's international Pride month, as has been the case in previous years.
Speaking before the vote, Arnull said: "The administration maintains our support for community-led events and inclusive engagement across West Northamptonshire, and I state for the record this administration supports all community groups everywhere."However, the move was heavily criticised by opposition parties on the council.Tory councillor Smith said the Reform administration had "no manifesto" and "no strategic vision". He added: "Your only notable initiative is a divisive flag policy that sidelines symbols of inclusion and unity. [It] is shameful you doing this, you should think again. Understand the community you now represent, and do the right thing and actually vote against this."Labour councillor Zoe Smith, who attended the meeting in a rainbow-themed dress, said: "Our community, my community, will not be erased by a flag protocol, but it does diminish dignity and civic responsibility of this council and the way we represent all our people to remove respect for the LGBT community and others."
'Heartbroken'
The enforcement of the policy means that no flag will be flown for a number of events, as in previous years.Martin Cole, the co-founder of the Northampton Windrush Generation organisation, said his group was "heartbroken" by the policy change.He added: "This decision is not only unjust but strikes at the heart of our values. As a society that celebrates diversity, inclusion and the rich tapestry of cultures that define us. "The Windrush generation has long stood as a symbol of resilience, unity, multi-culturalism, the very essence of British identity. Raising global flags is more than a symbolic act. "It is a statement of solidarity recognition and respect for the communities that have contributed to the vibrancy of this nation."
Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
Keir Starmer says he was ‘distracted' by Middle East and Nato during welfare rebellion
Sir Keir Starmer has admitted his focus was on matters involving Nato and the Middle East while a rebellion over welfare cuts took hold of his party at home. The prime minister has faced a growing backbench rebellion over proposed disability benefits cuts. Some 126 Labour backbenchers have signed an amendment that would halt the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill in its tracks when it faces its first Commons hurdle on 1 July. Responding to questions about what went wrong during the difficult week, Sir Keir claimed full responsibility for the welfare U-turn. 'All these decisions are my decisions and I take ownership of them,' he told The Sunday Times. 'My rule of leadership is, when things go well you get the plaudits; when things don't go well you carry the can. I take responsibility for all the decisions made by this government. I do not talk about staff and I'd much prefer it if everybody else didn't.' He continued that this was due to his heavy concentration on foreign affairs instead of domestic matters, first at the G7 meeting in Canada and then a Nato summit in the Netherlands. He also had to deal with the US's strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. 'I'm putting this as context rather than excuse: I was heavily focused on what was happening with Nato and the Middle East all weekend,' he said. 'I turned my attention fully to it [the welfare bill] when I got back from Nato on Wednesday night. Obviously in the course of the early part of this week we were busy trying to make sure Nato was a success.' He added: 'From the moment I got back from the G7, I went straight into a Cobra meeting. My full attention really bore down on this on Thursday. At that point we were able to move relatively quickly.' The government's original package restricted PIP eligibility, the main disability payment in England, and cut the health-related element of Universal Credit in a bid to save £5bn a year by 2030. The government has offered Labour rebels a series of concessions in an effort to head off the prime minister's first major Commons defeat since coming to power, as discontent bubbles among backbenchers surrounding welfare cuts, but campaigners have warned that these concessions could continue to cause problems Instead, the PIP eligibility changes will be implemented in November 2026, applying to new claimants only, while the existing recipients of the health elements of Universal Credit will have their incomes protected in real terms. While lead rebel Dame Meg Hillier has accepted the prime minister's £1.5bn U-turn as a 'positive outcome', Sir Keir has been warned that his decision to protect existing benefits claimants from upcoming welfare cuts would only create a 'generational divide' as hundreds of charities and campaigners urged MPs to continue their opposition to the proposed cuts. Disability charity Mencap warned that the changes will create a 'generational divide in the quality of life for people with a learning disability'. Think tank the Resolution Foundation warned earlier this week that the prime minister's U-turns on benefit cuts and winter fuel payments have blown a £4.5bn hole in the public finances that will 'very likely' be filled by tax rises in the autumn Budget.
Daily Mail
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: If ever we needed an effective opposition to rout Labour, it's now
Is there no limit to the price Britain must pay for having given Keir Starmer 's Labour Party a chance a year ago? This is rapidly becoming one of the worst governments in modern history. Some of its hopelessness and nastiness was predictable. Labour signalled loudly to its more militant supporters that it planned a class-war attack on private education. Other plans were buried deep in the small print. Or they were hinted at by the choice of ministers to carry them out. Chancellor Rachel Reeves, for instance, had disclosed to all who paid attention to her writings that she was gripped by Left-wing dogmas. She professed to revere the Cambridge eccentric Joan Robinson, who spent much of her career admiring the disastrous policies of Maoist China and North Korea. Later we discovered that she was inexperienced as well. Did Sir Keir Starmer realise this, or was he also beguiled by her dubious claims that she had spent a decade working as an economist at the Bank of England? It appears he has now decided to leave her in place to absorb as much as possible of the derision and dissent which her policies have brought about – a cruel revenge, if so. As her next duty will almost certainly be a huge stealth tax rise, achieved by failing to raise thresholds in line with inflation, he will no doubt prefer to let her take the punishment for that too. But this will not protect him from the general civil war which he began by permitting ill-planned attempts to slash the winter fuel allowance and cut welfare payments. Did he really not grasp that his huge new parliamentary party was full of men and women who are profoundly, emotionally committed to spending other people's money on a grand scale? Perhaps not. Sir Keir's own politics are something of a mystery, even to him. The sense of a man floundering between vague principles and a definite desire to stay in office is very strong. For example, he now says that he deeply r egrets describing Britain as an 'island of strangers', which many took as an echo of the late Enoch Powell's 1968 speech about immigration. He claims not to have read it properly before delivering it – a ridiculous thing for a Prime Minister to say. This retraction of his own scripted words must surely be the end of his attempt to save his bacon by trying to copy Reform UK. He also claims to be sorry about an earlier pessimistic speech about the economy, saying: 'We were so determined to show how bad it was that we forgot people wanted something to look forward to as well.' But do they have anything to look forward to, apart from an intensifying civil war between Sir Keir and his traditionally Leftist deputy Angela Rayner? Sir Keir and Ms Rayner are like two opponents grappling with each other on the edge of a precipice. The danger is that they will both fall together, leaving the country to suffer. As things stand, we could have four more years of this unsuccessful and increasingly divided government. It is vital that those who are opposed to its policies coalesce quickly into a coherent and effective opposition, which can both hold Labour to account and prepare to replace it with a competent pro-British government ready to step in, stop the rot and undo as much of the damage as possible.
Sky News
43 minutes ago
- Sky News
Two more people arrested over damage to aircraft at RAF base
Two more people have been arrested on suspicion of a terror offence after two aircraft were vandalised at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. Counter Terrorism Policing South East said the men, aged 22 and 24 and both from London, were arrested on Saturday afternoon on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, contrary to Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000. On Thursday, police said a woman, aged 29 of no fixed address, and two men, aged 36 and 24 from London, had been taken into police custody after the incident at RAF Brize Norton on 20 June. A 41-year-old woman, of no fixed address, was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, they previously said. The group posted a video online claiming it was behind the vandalism at the Oxfordshire airbase last Friday, saying activists had damaged two military planes at the base. Palestine Action - which focuses its campaigns on multinational arms dealers and has previously targeted corporate banks - said two activists "broke into the largest air force base in Britain and used electric scooters to swiftly manoeuvre towards the planes". 5:01 Repurposed fire extinguishers were used to spray red paint into the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyagers, while further damage was made using crowbars. "Red paint, symbolising Palestinian bloodshed was also sprayed across the runway and a Palestine flag was left on the scene," a statement by the group said. Brize Norton is the largest RAF station, with approximately 5,800 service personnel, 300 civilian staff and 1,200 contractors. A security review was launched across the "whole defence estate" following the breach, which was condemned as "absolutely staggering" by Ben Obese-Jecty, a Tory MP and former Army officer. Sir Keir Starmer condemned the "act of vandalism" as "disgraceful", adding: "Our Armed Forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day. It is our responsibility to support those who defend us." Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Monday that Palestine Action will be proscribed as a terrorist organisation following the breach at RAF Brize Norton. She said a draft proscription order will be laid in parliament next week, and if passed, it will make it illegal to be a member of, or invite support for, Palestine Action.
