By Jonathan Isaby
A year ago, Andrew Rosindell's campaign to have the Union flag fly permanently from Parliament - which began after his election to the Commons in 2001 - neared its conclusion and for a while now the flag has indeed proudly been flying from the Victoria Tower of the Houses of Parliament.
And today, a reception was held by the parliamentary Flags and Heraldry Committee - which Rosindell chairs - to celebrate the overturning of the 150-year old convention that stated that the flag should only fly when Pariament is sitting. This used to leave an empty flagpole for much of the year - particularly at the height of summer when so many tourists take their pictures of the building.
Speaking at the gathering in the House of Lords River Room, Andrew commended the Union flag as a sign of the country's history and heritage, not to mentional national unity, and said that it should be flown with pride and confidence.
He also explained how many hoops he had had to jump through in order to change the rules: he explained how he had been told by a senior colleague that the convention was there because the monarch needed to be able to establish whether Parliament was sitting by glancing across at the flagpole from Buckingham Palace. As a result, when the Queen visited his Romford constituency he steeled himself to ask her the veracity of this, to which she apparently replied: "When I want to know if Parliament is sitting I switch on BBC Parliament".
With Her Majesty seemingly happy for him to continue with his campaign, numerous other individuals and committees around Parliament had to be persuaded to back the move, which, eventually, they all did. As a result of Andrew's tenacity and determination, the nation's flag is now flying from Parliament 365 days a year. And long may it continue to do so.
