Reform’s Pride Flag removal vetoed by Warwickshire County Council chief executive

Chief Executive Monica Fogarty has vetoed the removal of the Progress Pride Flag flown above Warwickshire County Council, after 18-year-old interim Reform council leader George Finch petitioned for its removal.

Fogarty claimed that decisions such as these were within her remit as chief executive, and denied Reform’s request to take the flag down until after Pride Month had ended.

Former Reform Chairman Zia Yusuf has since accused Ms Fogarty, whom he called the “monarch of Warwickshire”, of a “coup d’état”. He added that “unelected bureaucrats” have “seized control of the country”.

Leaders, let alone interim leaders, can’t make a decision on a whim […] that’s what dictatorships are made of

Jonathan Chilvers, Warwickshire Green Party leader

Yusuf went on to state that “Reform-controlled English councils will move at speed to resolve that the only flags permitted to be flown on or in its buildings will be the Union Jack and St George’s flag”.

As of now, however, Reform does not occupy total control of Warwickshire County Council, despite being the largest party.

The chief executive’s position has been backed by the Warwickshire Green Party leader, Jonathan Chilvers, who said: “Leaders, let alone interim leaders, can’t make a decision on a whim based on what they ate for breakfast that morning – that’s what dictatorships are made of”.

It was later revealed that the flag was flown without the proper consent needed.

The council stated that they had ‘not received an enforcement complaint, so there is no active enforcement investigation’

According to Warwick District Council, the necessary application for advertising consent was not submitted.

Several flags, under the new Town and County Planning Regulations, do not require specific permission to be flown. Among these is the standard Pride flag, described as “six horizontal equal stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet”.

This does not, however, apply to the Progress Pride Flag flown outside Shire Hall.

Ellie Chowns, the Green Party MP for North Herefordshire, described Reform’s concern with flags as ‘pretty pathetic’

The Progress Pride Flag includes the traditional rainbow colours seen on most pride flags but also includes black and brown stripes to represent the struggles faced by ethnic minorities within the LGBTǪIA+ community, and the colours of the transgender pride flag.

However, the council stated that it had “not received an enforcement complaint, so there is no active enforcement investigation”.

Ellie Chowns, the Green Party MP for North Herefordshire, described Reform’s concern with flags as “pretty pathetic”, urging the party to concentrate on issues that concerned voters’ quality of life, such as “potholes and bin collections”.