MOTORISTS will be allowed to carry national flags* on their number plates in a victory for The Sun.
New Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon is to change the law within weeks to make it legal.
Mr Hoon slapped down Whitehall penpushers who argued against the move.
He overruled officials in his own department who said motorists should only carry the letters ‘GB’ in the EU flag.
Mr Hoon said: "I know The Sun campaigned hard to allow flags on number plates. Their campaign is one I am personally committed to.
"The people of England, Wales and Scotland should be able to express their feelings of national pride in this way."
Geoff went onto (allegedly) say:
"Since my party has no votes to lose there, the people of Northern Ireland can go stuff themselves on this one."
*It was decided in 2001 only the European Union symbol of 12 yellow stars on a blue background would be allowed.
The new arrangements will allow motorists to replace the ring of stars with either the Union Flag, Cross of St George, Scottish saltire or Welsh dragon.
Beneath that they will be allowed to display Eng for England, Sco for Scotland, Wal for Wales or GB for Great Britain. And nothing for Northern Ireland.
3 comments:
What's the bloody point?
The whole reason behind having anything on the left-hand side of our number plates was for the purposes of standardisation across Europe and to be able to travel across the EU without the need for those daft stickers.
This nonsense completely undermines it. If people want to express their identities at every turn, they can stick little stickers on their car or whatever else takes their fancy.
I remember when Helen Liddell was Scotland Secretary that she also intervened to stop the banning of using Scotland symbols on numberplates.
In Germany (as you have probably seen) number plates bear the symbol of the state the car is registered in. This for some is merely an administrative thing but for Bavarians and Saxons it also a symbolic thing.
NI has never, and never will be a nation. It has no flag apart from one attributed to the old parliament of NI. Unless you want the British authorities to create a flag(just like they did with NI) then you are onto plums.
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