May wades into ‘racist’ flag row sparked by MP
PRIME Minister Theresa May has defended the Black Country flag after a black Labour MP said it was “racist”.
The Black Country flag, designed by Stourbridge schoolgirl Gracie Sheppard, features red, white and black colours and the image of chains, representing the region’s industrial heritage.
But Eleanor Smith, Labour MP for Wolverhampton South West, reportedly criticised the flag’s “racist connotations”.
Critics point out that chains made in the region were used in the slave trade, in which millions of Africans were transported as slaves from Africa to the Americas, often by European slave traders.
Mike Wood, Conservative MP for Dudley South, asked the Prime Minister: “The Black Country flag has come under attack from the other side of this Chamber in recent days.
“But will the Prime Minister join me in again congratulating Gracie Sheppard who designed the flag when she was just 12 years old, reflecting our industrial heritage?”
Mrs May told him: “I would like to congratulate Gracie on designing that flag at the age of only 12 years.”
She said many people “have been surprised at the attitude from the benches opposite on this particular issue.”
The latest row over the flag broke out after Labour MPs were photographed with the flag outside the House of Commons.
Asked why she had not been in the photograph, Eleanor Smith, the new MP for Wolverhampton South West, reportedly told The Express and Star newspaper: “I didn’t go because it is not something I feel comfortable about standing in front of. I think it is time for an intelligent conversation about the flag.” The Express and Star reports that she told a reporter: “I am concerned about it. When you break it down the white on black imagery used together with the chains...I’m not going to pretend to you it doesn’t worry me as a black person.” She reportedly added: “I have serious concerns about the racist connotations, particularly the fact that chains are used to represent the Black Country.” Speaking in the House of Commons, she said her comments had been misrepresented. Ms Smith told MPs: “I also need to make a statement about a row that has broken out concerning my comments about a Black country flag created in 2012 after a competition organised by the Black Country Living Museum.
“This flag has a link of chains as its primary image. I have had two concerns about the connotations of this image – its historical association with the slave trade, and whether it should be the only brand image for the Black country.
“An article appeared in the local press saying that I thought that the flag was racist and should be scrapped. My comments had been misrepresented. I believe in a free press, but its reporting must be done responsibly, in a fair and honest way.
“I have received many abusive messages, and I am on the receiving end of the kind of threatening behaviour that many of my colleagues in this House have also received and have recently discussed, and I have learned the hard way how difficult being an MP is.”