Reform's Pride flag focus pathetic, says Green MP

An MP has accused Reform UK of "getting its knickers in a twist" over a Progress Pride flag flown outside a council headquarters - and also told the party to focus on more important issues rather than "posturing and performative politics".

Ellie Chowns, the Green Party member for North Herefordshire, was referring to a row in Warwickshire where Reform UK requested the county council it leads to remove such a flag.

Chowns told BBC Politics Midlands that Reform's focus on flags was "pretty pathetic" and voters were more interested in potholes and bin collections.

Responding on the same programme, Reform UK's Ian Cooper, leader of Staffordshire Council, said: "We are defending the public interest."

He added: "We were elected on a mandate and we intend to do it."

Also among the guests for Sunday's broadcast were Conservative MP for Kenilworth and Southam Sir Jeremy Wright who said the flag row in Warwickshire was a "distraction" and was not what most people cared about.

"For heaven's sake, are we really going to discuss what flag flies outside Shirehall in Warwick as a priority for the people of Warwickshire?" he asked.

The row began when the county council's acting leader - Reform UK's George Finch - wrote to the authority's chief executive, asking for the flag to be removed during Pride Month.

The chief executive refused, stating in an email response that such decisions rested with her - a stance described as a coup d'etat by Zia Yusuf, head of the national party's department of government efficiency.

It later emerged that the authority did not have the technical advertising consent required to fly a Progress Pride flag outside HQ. The flag's design differs from the standard Pride rainbow flag which is not subject to permission.

The flag has since been removed following the end of Pride Month.

Cooper said there was "nothing whatsoever" wrong with the Pride flag, but council buildings should "represent the people of the county and of the United Kingdom".

"If you want to fly a Pride flag or any other flag, go and find a flag pole and fly it," he said.

Another guest, Sureena Brackenridge, the Labour MP for Wolverhampton, said that in her constituency "not many people are really concerned about what flag flies outside the council buildings".

Her comments were echoed by Chowns and Sir Jeremy.

Chowns said she believed "people care about potholes, about bin collections, people care about social care and looking after vulnerable adults and children in the community".

Sir Jeremy said Warwickshire County Council had huge challenges which should be taking up the council's time, instead of flag policy.

"I really do worry that this is a demonstration of what many of us are concerned about, which is that Reform is all about slogans and not much about delivering things that people really care about," he said.

He added that if Reform wanted to set a flag policy, it needed to be debated by councillors.

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