by Simon Gilbert and Charlotte Benton, BBC
A Progress Pride flag at the centre of a row between Reform UK and the chief executive of Warwickshire County Council should not have been flown as the authority did not have the correct permission to fly it, it has been revealed.
The discovery came after Monica Fogarty, the chief executive, refused to remove the flag before the end of Pride month, following a written request from the authority’s interim leader, Reform UK’s George Finch.
Warwick District Council said advertising consent was required to fly the Progress flag and, while an application was not submitted, neither had it received an official complaint.
The BBC has approached the county council for a response.
Under an amendment to the Town and Country Planning Regulations, several flags do not need specific planning consent to be flown.
They include the standard pride flag, described in legislation as “bearing six horizontal equal stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet”.
The Progress flag, however, which was flown outside the headquarters in Warwick, differs from the Rainbow flag as a result of adaptations over the years.
Read also: We’ve just had the first ominous taste of what the Blob will do to a Reform government by Michael Deacon, Telegraph: A bureaucrat refused a simple request from elected councillors to take down a Pride flag. Call it what you like – I’d call it a warning shot