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Matthew Hancock Defies Philip Hammond, Flies Rainbow Flag From Cabinet Office Celebrating 'Pride'

Ministers Clash Over 'Pride' Flag Flown From Government Buildings
Aubrey Allegretti
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The pride rainbow flag as seen outside the Campus Activity Centre on April 9, 2014.
Thompson Rivers/Flickr

Two top Tory ministers clashed on Monday over whether to fly the LGBT 'Pride' flag from government buildings.

Days after Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond ordered his office and British embassies overseas not to display the rainbow flag in the week leading up to London Pride, he was defied by a cabinet colleague.

Senior Conservative minister Matthew Hancock rebuked the diktat, posting a picture of the symbolic LGBT flag flying proudly from his department's masthead.

Newly appointed to the Cabinet Office brief, Hancock tweeted:

His tweet in light of Hammond's recent orders was swiftly picked up on by two Labour MPs, quick to remind people of the Foreign Secretary's abstention.

Chris Bryant, MP for the Rhondda, and Wes Streeting, who represents Ilford North, both picked up on the decision.

Bryant responded to Hancock, asking: "So why has Hammond forbidden embassies from doing so?"

Minutes later he was joined in force by Streeting, who probed: "So why aren't our embassies doing the same?"

The debate surrounding whether government buildings should fly the rainbow flag erupted last week, when Philip Hammond u-turned on a regular Foreign Office tradition, saying it should not replace the Union flag on special occasions.

When asked why they had stopped flying the LGBT flag, the Foreign Office gave a statement saying: “It is the FCO’s long-standing policy to fly the Union flag, national flags and the flags of Overseas Territories.

"The Union flag always takes priority and is flown from the FCO’s main flag pole at all times. It is never substituted for another flag."

They admitted that exceptions to the blanket ban had been made in the past.

Story continues below slideshow...

Pride Around the World
(01 of17)
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NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 29: A general view of atmosphere during the 2014 New York City Pride March on June 29, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by D Dipasupil/Getty Images) (credit:D Dipasupil via Getty Images)
(02 of17)
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A group of gay parade participants and party people are having a great time dancing around at Copenhagen Gay Pride Parade. Denmark 2013. . (Photo by: PYMCA/UIG via Getty Images) (credit:PYMCA via Getty Images)
(03 of17)
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LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 04: People take part in the annual Gay Pride street march through central London on July 4, 2009 in London, England. This years parade theme is entitled 'Come Out and Play' and consists of celebrities, floats, and performers celebrating the UK's largest gay and lesbian festival. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) (credit:Dan Kitwood via Getty Images)
(04 of17)
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A woman holds the rainbow flag, colors of pride for the gay community during the homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (HLBT) visibility march, the Gay Pride, on June 29, 2013 in Paris, exactly one month to the day since France celebrated its first gay marriage. AFP PHOTO / MARTIN BUREAU (Photo credit should read MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:MARTIN BUREAU via Getty Images)
(05 of17)
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Youngsters hold a rainbow flag, a symbol for the homosexuals, as they march on the street during their anti-discrimination parade in Changsha, central China's Hunan province on May 17, 2013. About one hundred persons gathered to the anti-discrimination parade on the International Day Against Homophobia, appealing for understanding to homosexuals from the mass people. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:AFP via Getty Images)
(06 of17)
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AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - AUGUST 02: Revelers on a boat parade the Prinsengracht canal participating in the Amsterdam Canal Parade during Amsterdam Gay Pride on August 2, 2014 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Over 500,000 people from all over the world attend the yearly Gay Pride and the Canal Parade where 79 boats with revelers in fancy comstumes parade the Dutch capital from the Prinsengracht canal to the Amstel river. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images) (credit:Jasper Juinen via Getty Images)
(07 of17)
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JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - SEPTEMBER 18: Participants wear rainbow flag take part in the annual Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade 2014 in Israel on September 18, 2014. Over 500 people attended the gay pride parade in Jerusalem and marched to Independence Park from Gan HaPa'amon (Bell Park). (Photo by Salih Zeki Fazlioglu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
(08 of17)
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Participants pose with a rainbow coloured heart shaped placard during a local annual gay pride parade in Hanoi on August 4, 2013. Some two hundred activists waving rainbow flags and carrying hand-painted banners biked in a colourful convoy through central Hanoi on Agusut 4 as part of the communist country's second gay pride parade. AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:STR via Getty Images)
(09 of17)
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Revellers march with a giant rainbow flag during the annual Gay Pride Parade at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 16, 2014. AFP PHOTO / YASUYOSHI CHIBA (Photo credit should read YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:YASUYOSHI CHIBA via Getty Images)
(10 of17)
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MADRID, SPAIN - JULY 06: Two gay men calling for freedom kiss during the Madrid Gay Pride Parade 2013 on July 6, 2013 in Madrid, Spain. According to a new Pew Research Center survey about homosexual acceptance around the world, Spain tops gay-friendly countries with an 88 percent acceptance rate. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo/Getty Images) (credit:Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno via Getty Images)
(11 of17)
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Woman waving a 'Born this Way' rainbow flag over the dancing crowd in front of the San Francisco Federal Building, at the Gay Pride Festival. (credit:Tristan Savatier via Getty Images)
(12 of17)
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Rome, ITALY: Demonstrators pass the Colosseum during the gay pride parade in Rome 09 July 2005. AFP PHOTO / Filippo MONTEFORTE (Photo credit should read FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:FILIPPO MONTEFORTE via Getty Images)
(13 of17)
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TAIPEI, TAIWAN - 2012/10/27: Dressed in fancy costumes reminiscent of ancient China, participants at the Taipei Gay Pride Parade celebrate in harmony and fun. (Photo by Alberto Buzzola/LightRocket via Getty Images) (credit:Alberto Buzzola via Getty Images)
(14 of17)
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A gay couple kisses during a parade demanding equal rights for the LGBT community, on September 27, 2014 in Asuncion. AFP PHOTO Norberto Duarte (Photo credit should read NORBERTO DUARTE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:NORBERTO DUARTE via Getty Images)
(15 of17)
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Locals take part in a gay parade, on May 9, 2015, in Havana. AFP PHOTO/ADALBERTO ROQUE (Photo credit should read ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:ADALBERTO ROQUE via Getty Images)
(16 of17)
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NEW DELHI, INDIA - NOVEMBER 30: Indian members and supporters of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Community hold placards and dances during a Gay Pride Parade, on November 30, 2014 in New Delhi, India. Nearly a thousand gay rights activists marched to demand an end to discrimination against gays in India's deeply conservative society. (Photo by Arun Sharma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) (credit:Arun Sharma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
(17 of17)
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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 01: Parade goers march during the 2014 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade on March 1, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. The Sydney Mardi Gras parade began in 1978 as a march and commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall Riots of New York. It is an annual event promoting awareness of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues and themes. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images) (credit:Brendon Thorne via Getty Images)

Last year, when William Hague was foreign secretary, the Foreign Office posted to Facebook:

Hammond, who has three children with his wife Susan, opposed the gay marriage policy in 2012, saying it was "upsetting vast numbers of people".

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