BREAK: New guidance published today by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will see the Union flag flown on UK Government buildings every day.
Easily the most handsome flag in the world.
Up there with Japan and maybe Switzerland. Much nicer than the US flag which let's face it is a vexillological mess.
Currently, Union flags are only required to be flown on UK Govt buildings on designated days.
New guidance will ask the flag be flown all year round, unless another flag is being flown โ such as another national flag of the UK, a county flag, or other flags to mark civic pride.
Nicola Sturgeon likes to suggest that Scotland would be better off with its highest level of Government resting in Brussels rather than Westminster.
Shall we put that to the test with a topical example?
๐Say... vaccinations?๐
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ๐ฌ๐งSo far Scotland has received an allocation of over 700,000 vaccines via the UK and, has vaccinated 8.5% of the population. ๐๐ป ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐, ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฒ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ.
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ๐ช๐บIf Scotland had vaccinated at the rate of Denmark (a country of similar size and demographics and one judged to have done the best out of all EU countries so far) it would have seen just 3.73% of the population vaccinated. ๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ.
This pandemic is exposing the fundamental problem with our current devolution settlement. No one can answer the fundamental question of Who Governs with any consistent hierarchy. It's a mess.
Council leaders and metro mayors have a pulsating bully pulpit, engorged on and off by a government implying it has to cut deals to exercise the power it already has.
Meanwhile the lower leaders of devolved nations are acting as rivals to the national executive- unwitting beneficiaries of unprecedented power accidentally falling their way in a hurried muddle.
So keen to flex their newfound power, they strive for difference for the sake of it.