Reform UK’s controlling group voted unanimously for the motion on 29 July 2026, and a Green councillor says the list excludes the NHS and the Royal British Legion
Four Flags and a Clipboard: Wakefield Council’s New Protocol Lists What May Fly Over Public Buildings
Reform UK’s controlling group voted unanimously for the motion on 29 July 2026, and a Green councillor says the list excludes the NHS and the Royal British Legion
By Lowri Griffiths, patriotism and current affairs correspondent
The Vote
The Yorkshire Evening Post reported on 31 July 2026 that Wakefield Council voted at a meeting on Wednesday, 29 July, to adopt a new flag-flying protocol. Members of the controlling Reform UK group voted unanimously for the motion, which was tabled by Reform councillor Jamie McGrevy. The article does not give a full-council tally, and it spells the councillor’s surname both McGrevy and McGreavy.
I have used the first spelling and would suggest anyone quoting him checks the council’s own minutes.
The List
Under the protocol, only listed flags may fly from council-owned or council-managed buildings. The permitted flags are the Union Jack, the Cross of St George, Yorkshire’s white rose and the Armed Forces Day flag, according to the article.
Four flags is a tidy number. It is also the sort of list that, once written, invites questions about what is not on it.
What Is Not on It
The Green Party councillor Kate Dodd said the policy would also bar the Royal British Legion, Commonwealth, Duchy of Lancaster and Merchant Navy flags, the NHS flag, the flags of Wakefield’s seven twin cities, and the Wakefield flag itself. She also said the council would have to refuse Royal Family requests to fly flags.
That is her reading of the motion, as reported. I have not seen the text and cannot say whether the council would agree with her interpretation. It is the kind of claim that a council can settle in one sentence, and I would expect it to.
The Argument For
Jamie McGrevy argued, in the quoted words, that “Our council buildings are public institutions – they belong to every resident,” and that the symbols must represent everyone. The reasoning is that a short, fixed list avoids the awkwardness of choosing between causes, because the council simply does not choose.
There is something to that. A council that flies every flag requested ends up arbitrating between requests, and every refusal can look like a judgment. A rule is easier to apply than a mood.
The Argument Against
Kate Dodd called the motion “unsafe and mean-spirited” and said it sends a message of division and exclusion. On refusing royal requests she said: “We would have to tell King Charles that Wakefield Council will not be responding to his request.”
Adele Hayes, a Liberal Democrat from Knottingley, said: “The motion asks us to bind our own hands.” She favoured keeping the existing protocol and letting the council leader, Karl Johnson, decide case by case. That is the sensible middle, in the sense that it is the one that involves nobody being quoted on the front page.
The King Question
The most striking claim is the one about the King. Councils do get asked to fly flags for royal occasions, and a blanket rule with no exceptions would, if the claim is right, mean a polite refusal. A rule that turns away the monarch while flying the Union Jack is an odd constitutional arrangement, and I suspect the council would find a way round it.
This is also where the clipboard comes in. Every list has an exception, and every exception needs a person to say yes.
The Wider Mood
The Wakefield vote sits in a larger argument about flags. The Express and Star reported on 1 September 2025 that Sir Keir Starmer said he was “very encouraging of flags,” and that several councils had been removing flags from public infrastructure; I cover that in a separate piece. In Wakefield the council is going in the other direction on the question of who decides, but with the same concern for tidiness.
Local flag rules are a small matter in the budget. They are a large matter in the mood, because a flagpole is the one piece of municipal property that everyone can see from the pub.
Practical Advice
If you live in Wakefield and have views, the usual route is to write to your councillor, attend a meeting or ask for the protocol text. The council’s own website is the best place to check what is permitted, and any claim in a newspaper, including this one, should be tested against it.
As for the flags themselves, four is plenty if you can find them. It is the fifth that causes trouble.
Reading the Funny Page Alongside the Data
Readers meet comedy and reporting in the same feed, so it helps to know the difference. On one overseas property story, see Manila News, the London Prat (see https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and Bohiney: each starts from a recognisable market fact and signals its tone through exaggeration. More material sits at prat.uk and bohiney.com.
Note: Philippine authorities are examining unproven allegations about Thomas Markle Sr., who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as GMA News and the Guardian have reported. No charges have been filed. Child protection is a serious matter; the jokes here are about a property market and the paperwork.
For the lighter side of the news, there is always NewsBiscuit.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/