Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock has been criticised for making a ‘nonsense’ claim about Union Jacks flying at the Edinburgh Festival.
The Tory MP told BBC Scotland that one of his ‘proudest’ achievements was ensuring the Union Jack was flown at the Edinburgh International Festival.
He told Good Morning Scotland: “One of the proudest things I have done as a minister was when I was Culture Secretary, making sure we got Union Jacks on the Edinburgh festival, because the Edinburgh festival is not only Scotland’s biggest and best festival, it’s the UK’s biggest and best festival.”
However, the Edinburgh International Festival explained that they didn’t fly the Union flag last year and were unsure which festival Mr Hancock was referring to.
They told The National: “We don’t believe that Mr Hancock’s comments relate specifically to any International Festival initiative.
“The International Festival also doesn’t have a policy for the use of national flags but instead reviews their use on a case-by-case basis.
The International Festival didn’t use a Union Jack in any official capacity last year.”
Culture Secretary for Scotland Fiona Hyslop derided his claim as “nonsense”, on Twitter, adding: “Matt Hancock says the best thing he did as UK Culture Secretary was get Union Flag on Edinburgh International Festivals!!
“He didn’t.
“It would be completely wrong for UK Government, or indeed any government including the Scottish Government to try and hijack/appropriate independent arts festivals.
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