'It's a mark of respect': Council vows to fly Union Jack from Halifax Town Hall all year round

The Union flag is set to fly from Halifax Town Hall all year round, according to Calderdale Council, in a "mark of respect to all the peoples of our great nation".

The decision comes following the newly appointed Reform UK Mayor of Calderdale's approval of the move, and the local authority shared the news on its Facebook page.

On Friday, Calderdale Council posted: "The Mayor of Calderdale, Councillor Andrew Tagg, has formally approved the flying of the Union Flag at Halifax Town Hall throughout the year, as of today.

"This is a mark of respect to all the peoples of our great nation."

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The Mayor is among the Reform UK councillors who were voted in during May, with the group seizing overall control of the council.

The Union flag announcement has since sparked more than 600 comments on the Facebook post, with some questioning the need for permission to be granted to fly the nation's flag.

David Hilton commented on the post and said: "It shouldn't need permission, it should fly on every Government building, including school, colleges, and universities."

Chloe Robertson agreed and said: "Crazy that we even need permission, but this is great news. We need the Union flag and the St. George's flag flying high on all public buildings in England."

Jane Booth added: "The fact we have to have approval to fly our national flag anywhere in the UK is the greatest shame ever. Well done Andrew for something that shouldn’t even be debated."

Others praised the decision and hoped it would encourage a sense of national pride.

Brian Ackroyd said: "It is great news that the Union Flag will fly proudly over Halifax Town Hall. The same display of national pride should be reflected in all our schools, where the flag ought to be raised as a daily reminder of our shared heritage and values.

"Before every council meeting, the National Anthem should be sung to honour our country and reaffirm our duty to serve with respect and unity. The same should apply in our schools, with pupils singing the anthem each morning at assembly to begin the day with a sense of belonging, pride, and national identity."

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Jayne Emmett added: "One good decision make by the new council, to let the people we are first and foremost an English nation and proud to be English."

Others, much like during Calderdale Council's flag-flying policy debate last November, raised the contentious matter of flags being displayed on lamp posts.

Tim Osborne said: "If it's a mark of respect, does that mean they'll be getting rid of all the tatty, dirty flags that have been zip-tied to lampposts? There's nothing respectful about the state those flags have been left in."

Stephen Mortimer added: "Now get to removing them off random lampposts."

Councillors gave the green light to a protocol governing the flying of official flags from council and other public buildings in November, with members of the Governance and Business Committee recommending the full council adopt a flag-flying protocol.

The committee acknowledged the number of "designated days" on which flags are required to be flown in accordance with Government guidance, while also noting that throughout any given year, there are a handful of ad hoc occasions when a particular flag may be displayed.

The approved protocol states: "To ensure consistency in approach to requests made to do so then it is proposed that, as part of this protocol, those requests are initially received by the Head of Legal & Democratic Services who must undertake appropriate consultation ahead of referring the request to the Mayor for a decision.

"The consultation, where appropriate, should include Group Leaders, the Chief Executive and relevant Chief Officers and an Equality Impact Assessment to assess how the flying of a particular flag might affect people with different characteristics protected by law, such as age, disability, race and sexual orientation."

Reform UK Calderdale posted on its Facebook page that the group intends to revise the policy in the near future.

Their latest post read: "We are proud to see our Union Flag is now flying above the Halifax Town Hall. Thanks to the approval of the Mayor, Coun Andrew Tagg, we are able to raise the flag pending our plans to change the policy in July.

"We will put an end to past administration's flying of foreign flags and symbols of division. We are proud of our great nation and its history."

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