The rainbow flag will fly over the Cabinet Office to mark this week’s gay pride celebrations, Matthew Hancock has announced, putting him at odds with his colleague, foreign secretary Philip Hammond, who refused to do the same.
The Cabinet Office minister announced the decision on Twitter, posting a picture of the rainbow flag flying over the building adjacent to Downing Street on Whitehall in central London.
Proud to be flying the rainbow flag for Pride over the Cabinet Office today pic.twitter.com/Hno8UMjE4M
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancockMP) June 22, 2015
Hancock, the MP for West Suffolk, said in a statement that civil servants across the country would be joining in the celebrations this week and that “flying the flag shows that pride in our LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] community is shared at the most senior levels of Whitehall”.
The announcement comes a week after Hammond was widely criticised for refusing to fly the flag over the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and forbidding British embassies abroad from flying the flag, saying it was a “longstanding policy” to fly only the union jack, national flags and the flags of overseas territories.
“The union flag always takes priority and is flown from the FCO’s main flag pole at all times,” said a spokesperson for the FCO. “It is never substituted for another flag.” The FCO said on Monday that the Cabinet Office’s decision would not affect their own.
Hammond’s position was a departure from that of the former foreign secretary William Hague, who agreed to the fly the flag during last year’s gay pride celebrations – which take place every year to campaign for the freedoms of LGBT people.
British embassies in Paris, Oslo, Tel Aviv and Santiago are among those to have previously flown the rainbow flag to mark their local gay pride celebrations.
Hammond is one of four cabinet ministers not to have voted in favour of equal marriage, arguing that there was no demand for it and that there was “a real sense of anger among many people who are married that any government thinks it has the ability to change the definition of an institution like marriage”.
Oliver Letwin, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said of the Cabinet Office’s decision: “We are delighted to join with the LGBT community in celebrating Pride this weekend, and will be flying our flag at the heart of Whitehall. We have committed to governing one nation, bringing people together and flying the flag this week shows our pride in and solidarity with the LGBT community.”
The rainbow flag symbolises lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride. Its red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet horizontal stripes represent the diversity of the LGBT community. Thousands of people are expected to congregate in central London on Saturday for the capital’s annual gay rights parade, Pride in London.
Hancock’s announcement on Twitter prompted a swift reaction from a number of Labour figures. Shadow culture secretary Chris Bryant responded by asking why Hammond had forbidden embassies from raising the flag.
Wes Streeting, the new MP for Ilford North and a rising star in the Labour party, said: “It would be peculiar enough for different departments to take a different approach to flying a rainbow flag, but what’s bizarre about this decision is that it reverses the position adopted by William Hague.”
Streeting, who used to be head of education at Stonewall, a leading gay rights organisation, said the inconsistency of approach sent “a worrying message to those who worried that a majority Tory government would turn the clock back on equality”.
A Stonewall spokesperson welcomed the Cabinet Office’s decision to show “its support for Pride in London and the LGBT community”.
“Flying the rainbow flag is really important for people to see – especially young people,” they said. “More than 75,000 young LGBT people will be bullied this year just for being who they are, so having such prominent displays of support for the LGBT community is important and very welcome.”
