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The new chief of the Metropolitan police is said to be “outraged” that a police station in east London was flying a gay pride flag.

Officers at Limehouse Station replaced the station’s usual Union Jack with a rainbow flag in recognition of LGBT History Month.

The Daily Mail reports that Met police chief Sir Paul Stephenson ordered the flag to be hauled down immediately, citing Met rules that only the Union Jack and the force’s own flag can be flown from police buildings.

Former Flying Squad commander John O’Connor said: “Celebrating gay rights is fine – but what’s it got to do with the police? We’re servants of the Queen, not the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender movement.”

Wales

A similar row has also broken out in the North Wales police force, where a rainbow flag is flying at Police Headquarters in Colwyn Bay.

David Jones, Conservative MP for Clwyd West, said “People want to see their police force focus on fighting crime, not getting involved in political tokenism and gestures.”

“This seems to be political correctness gone mad,” added Darren Millar, the Conservative Welsh Assembly Member for the constituency.

Jenny Porter, community liaison officer for Stonewall Cymru defended the decision: “It is a great sign to lesbian, gay and bisexual people in North Wales how much the police has changed and it is encouraging that people have confidence in the police to report homophobic hate crime.

“The flag signifies that we are celebrating the fact that the world is full of people with differing sexual orientations and that everyone should be treated equally and with respect.”

North Wales Police are the second best employer in Wales when it comes to attitudes towards LGBT staff, according to the latest Stonewall survey.

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