Why should Union flag take precedence over the Saltire?

Comment Bill Wilson

Are some political debates not just a little bizarre, or perhaps manufactured?

Apparently there is great consternation that, if there is only one flagpole in some locations, then, on certain days the Saltire will not be hauled down and replaced by the Union Flag.

Scottish Tory MSP Murdo Fraser is quoted as saying: “Refusing to fly the Union flag on the Queen’s birthday is something that may well appeal to the extreme elements of the Nationalist movement.”

Really? So Her Majesty is not the Queen of Scots then?

Personally, as a republican, I must confess some indifference. However, if she is, indeed, Queen of Scots, as much as she is monarch of any other nation of the UK, then logically it is not disrespectful to Her Majesty to fly the Saltire here (and the other nations’

flags in those nations). Why should any other flag take precedence in Scotland?

Tory MP Jacob Rees-mogg is quoted as saying: “This decision smacks of small-mindedness and is an affront to the majority of Scots who voted to remain within the UK.”

Yet this has nothing to do with a belief in independence. Many who voted to stay in the Union also think of themselves as Scots. Again, should not Scotland’s flag have precedence in Scotland? The UK is currently part of the European Union, yet we have never flown the EU flag from every public building. Why not? The EU and the UK are both unions, not nation states. If the UK flag takes precedence over the Saltire, why does the EU flag not take precedence over the UK flag? Does Reesmogg feel that the failure to fly the EU flag from more public buildings smacks of Tory small-mindedness? l Bill Wilson is a former SNP MSP

“Ifsheis,indeed,queen of Scots, as much as she is monarch of any other nation of the UK, then logically it is not disrespectful to Her Majesty to fly the Saltire here”