Fresh calls to showcase the Saltire within the debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament have been rebuffed.
SNP MSP Christine Grahame submitted a written parliamentary question asking the body charged with overseeing the running of Holyrood if it would consider displaying the flag of Scotland beside Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick when parliament is sitting.
However, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), which comprises an MSP from each of the four main political parties alongside Marwick, has ruled out revisiting their ruling three years ago that the move was “unnecessary”.
In January 2009, the Public Petitions Committee considered a suggestion by two members of the public to hang the flag in the chamber against a backdrop of criticism from opposition MSPs. At present, the Saltire, Union and European Union flag all fly outside the public entrance to the Parliament.
Writing in response to Grahame’s question, Mary Scanlon, who sits on the SPCB as a Scottish Conservative MSP, said: “The issue of whether to display the saltire in the debating chamber has been considered by the SPCB previously, most recently on 4 February 2009.
“On that occasion, the matter had been raised by a petitioner to the Parliament and, after considering the request, the SPCB responded on 11 February 2009 saying that in its view, the introduction of the flag of Scotland into the chamber was unnecessary, given the unique and instantly recognisable design of the chamber and of the building as whole. That remains the position.”
Alan Robertson
A graduate in Politics and Journalism from the University of Strathclyde, Alan joined the Holyrood team as a reporter in May 2012 fresh from finishing his studies. Alan spent four years in student media, the last of which helping to launch the award-winning Glasgow Journal as Managing Editor, and continues to work part-time as a sub-editor in sport for the Sunday...
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