Tories fume over Nicola Sturgeon's EU flag decision

The Saltire and EU flag fly outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh - Credit: PA

Scottish government buildings will be allowed to continue flying the EU flag alongside the saltire every day of the year, the SNP has said.

The EU is only raised on May 9 to celebrate Europe Day. By contrast, the Union Flag will only be flown one day a year – Remembrance Sunday.

The move did not go down well within the Tory Party.

Conservative MSP Dean Lockhart said: “The UK has left the EU, so Nicola Sturgeon’s personal decision to order the flying of the EU flag on Scottish government buildings makes no sense.

“It reconfirms the SNP’s refusal to accept referendum results and their ongoing focus on constitutional issues at the expense of more important priorities. But we should not be surprised. Like all nationalists, Sturgeon is obsessed with flags.”

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said: “Token gestures such as this serve no purpose other than to distract from the extreme challenges facing Scotland.”

UK minister James Cleverly told LBC radio: “She’s really not good at listening to people when they make their voices known at referenda.

“Politicians should deal with the world as it is and rather than the world as they wish it was.”

A spokesman for the Scottish government said: “The EU flag is flown to reflect the overwhelming vote of the people of Scotland to remain in Europe, and as a mark of solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of EU citizens who to call Scotland home despite Brexit.”