IN A DRAMATIC reversal of his personal policy, Cllr Emlyn Dole, the Leader of Carmarthenshire County Council has okayed the flying of the flying of the Rainbow Flag over County Hall this weekend.
Cllr Dole gave the instruction after the decision not to fly the flag was the subject of strong condemnation, including criticism from both Adam Price AM and Leanne Wood. Nia Griffith had also condemned the refusal to fly the Rainbow Flag as ‘appalling’.
Cllr Dole’s position is the subject of further criticism by Labour Leader Jeff Edmunds, a member of the Council working group which unanimously decided not to recommend change to the policy. Cllr Edmunds states that he reached his decision to reject change reluctantly and in the full knowledge that Cllr Dole could have approved the flying of the Rainbow Flag or any other had he wished to do so.
Cllr Edmunds described himself as being ‘let down’ by the misrepresentation of what happened at the committee meeting and the failure of the Council leader to publish an agreed public statement, as the committee had unanimously supported, to explain the basis for members’ decision.
Although, the council’s cross party group on constitutional matters (CRWG) had decided against amending the authority’s flag protocol, effectively enforcing a presumption against flag requests from any individual or organisation, as The Herald revealed this week the power to order the flag to be flown was Cllr Dole’s all along and he told the newspaper that his personal view was that no flag should be flown in preference to requests made by other campaigning groups, for example Holocaust Memorial Day or the Aberfan Memorial last year.
Cllr Emlyn Dole said that the decision has since been “deliberately misinterpreted for political purposes” and, in order to “clear any misunderstanding”, he has instructed the Rainbow Flag to be flown over County Hall this weekend.”
Cllr Dole concluded: “We can return to the formal process for amending the council’s flag policy at a later date, but as Leader of the Council I have taken the decision to fly the Rainbow Flag this weekend as an expression of Carmarthenshire County Council’s support and solidarity with our staff and residents in the LGBT+ community.”
Carmarthenshire’s Council Leader makes u-turn over rainbow flag
Trending Stories
Add Comment