Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Flags galore
The recent controversy over government ministers displaying the union jack in the background on TV appearances, as well as the over-the-top £2.6 million briefing room, complete with four such flags behind the rostrum, is starting to get a bit much for some MPs.
The Independent reports that in a discussion at a recent Public Accounts Committee meeting on the BBC's role as a representative of Britain on the world stage, freshman Tory MP, James Wild asked new director-general Tim Davie more than once why there were not any images of the union jack in his organisation's annual report:
Mr Davie said the number of flags was a "strange metric" by which to measure the BBC's British credentials, adding there was "no problem" with the BBC's role "championing Britain abroad".
He said he had not been briefed on the matter before the meeting of the Public Accounts Committee, but added that a union flag flies above the BBC headquarters in London on many days of the year.
Mr Wild, a Norfolk MP of the 2019 intake, referenced last week’s dispute over mockery of a minister’s flag by BBC Breakfast hosts, and said his constituents would "expect to see probably more than one flag" appearing in the report.
"You may not, but licence fee payers may do," Mr Wild told the director-general during an appearance before the Public Accounts Committee to discuss the BBC's financial management.
Mr Wild then asked the same question of another recent BBC report, which featured no images of the flag, before suggesting the corporation include some in the next annual report.
Given that the BBC is meant to represent the whole of the UK and that Wales is not represented in the Union Jack, there is clearly a case for Y Ddraig Goch to feature in these reports as well, but I digress. If we are now to measure our worth and that of organisations by the number of national flags they display, then we really have entered a parallel universe.
The Public Accounts Committee is one of the most prestigious and important in the House of Commons. What justification is there for wasting time asking about flags when there are far more important matters that need probing?
The Independent reports that in a discussion at a recent Public Accounts Committee meeting on the BBC's role as a representative of Britain on the world stage, freshman Tory MP, James Wild asked new director-general Tim Davie more than once why there were not any images of the union jack in his organisation's annual report:
Mr Davie said the number of flags was a "strange metric" by which to measure the BBC's British credentials, adding there was "no problem" with the BBC's role "championing Britain abroad".
He said he had not been briefed on the matter before the meeting of the Public Accounts Committee, but added that a union flag flies above the BBC headquarters in London on many days of the year.
Mr Wild, a Norfolk MP of the 2019 intake, referenced last week’s dispute over mockery of a minister’s flag by BBC Breakfast hosts, and said his constituents would "expect to see probably more than one flag" appearing in the report.
"You may not, but licence fee payers may do," Mr Wild told the director-general during an appearance before the Public Accounts Committee to discuss the BBC's financial management.
Mr Wild then asked the same question of another recent BBC report, which featured no images of the flag, before suggesting the corporation include some in the next annual report.
Given that the BBC is meant to represent the whole of the UK and that Wales is not represented in the Union Jack, there is clearly a case for Y Ddraig Goch to feature in these reports as well, but I digress. If we are now to measure our worth and that of organisations by the number of national flags they display, then we really have entered a parallel universe.
The Public Accounts Committee is one of the most prestigious and important in the House of Commons. What justification is there for wasting time asking about flags when there are far more important matters that need probing?
I suppose we should be grateful that the new government bill that imposes prison sentences for attacking statues greater than those available for convicted rapists, does not also seek to outlaw flag burning.
In civil liberties terms, this is a dark and dangerous place the Conservative Party is taking us.
