UK council apologises over Union flag row with Primary School

A council has apologised after a politician demanded to know why a school suggested the Union flag could be 'sectarian'.
Tory MSP Jackson Carlaw slammed Cross Arthurlie Primary School in Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, after they issued a letter to parents about flags which had caused 'upset' at a recent event for school leavers.
Headteacher Fiona McDonald said the use of the flag had caused issues at the school, but Carlaw branded the move 'totally unacceptable and deeply offensive'.
In the letter, Ms McDonald said: 'Unfortunately, the use of the Union flag with some staff images on caused some upset at the beginning of the evening.
'As a school, we promote inclusion and acceptance, actively working against potentially offensive or sectarian messaging.
'Although we recognise this was not the intent, we are concerned that others within or beyond the school community may consider that this is something we would encourage.'
Ms McDonald added that she had spoken to the children about why it wasn't a good idea, and how different flags and symbols mean different things to people.
'I hope this helps everyone understand where mistakes have been made and we can move on enjoying the rest of the end of term celebrations,' she added.
But Carlaw, MSP for East Renfrewshire, wrote: 'I am both angry and concerned to learn that an official letter (now confirmed as genuine) issued by the head teacher of a primary school in East Renfrewshire has suggested the use of the Union Flag amounts to 'sectarian messaging'.
'Let me be clear – to equate the Union Flag with sectarianism is totally unacceptable and deeply offensive to people both locally and across Scotland. As a start, the council must issue an unconditional apology.
'Our national flag is not up for debate – it is a symbol of our tradition, unity as a nation and hope for so many.' More Trending
The school was previously praised by inspectors who described pupils as 'highly motivated to learn and achieve'.
According to the Scottish Parliament, the Saltire (Scottish Flag) should be flown in the 'superior' position, followed by the Union flag.
There are no laws restricting the flying of either flag, but tradition stipulates the Saltire flies above the Union flag.
Schools are not required to fly any flags.
The report described pupils as 'polite, confident, articulate' and 'proud of their school and demonstrate the school values very well.'
East Renfrewshire Council said: 'It was not the school's intention to imply the Union flag is sectarian and both the head teacher and the council apologise for any offence and upset that has been caused to pupils, parents and carers and the wider community.
'All educational establishments in East Renfrewshire should be spaces that are focused on learning, unity, and pride in a diverse British society. We expect our schools to foster an ethos of respect for diverse perspectives and national identity.'
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: 'I won the National Lottery – this is what I now do day to day'
MORE: This 'soulless' UK town is being knocked down and locals are surprisingly on board
MORE: Search suspended for passenger who fell overboard from Scottish ferry

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

The Herald Scotland

17 minutes ago

• The Herald Scotland

Are you ‘upset'? The dangers of flags in Scottish schools

Ms McDonald also said in the letter that she'd spoken to her pupils and explained the symbolism and association of flags and symbols to different groups of people, and how using the pictures was contrary to the school values of respect and kindness. 'I hope this helps everyone understand where mistakes have been made,' she said, 'and we can move on enjoying the rest of the end-of-term celebrations.' The language, the tone, the phrasing – 'inclusion', 'acceptance', 'offensive', 'upset', 'I hope this helps' – is a good example of the way some people in the public sector have learned to talk, indeed feel they must talk: plaintive, patronising, passive aggressive. I also dread to think what Ms McDonald said to the pupils when she 'explained the symbolism and association of flags'; if her letter's anything to go by, she's the last person who should be explaining it. But as I say, the headteacher has now said sorry through her council, East Renfrewshire. A council statement said she'd never meant to suggest the union flag was sectarian and 'apologised for any offence and upset that has been caused' (more upset and offence you'll notice). The council issued its statement after the local MSP, Tory Jackson Carlaw, said he was angry about the head's letter and that equating the Union flag with sectarianism was deeply offensive (I think we may need to ban the o-word). We also need to put all the apparent offence and upset in perspective. It would seem that someone saw the pictures of the event, noticed the Union flags, and contacted the school to say they were upset. The headteacher then reacted in the way she did, writing her letter, which upset other people, meaning the headteacher then had to apologise to them as well and suddenly we're in a spiral of offence and apology. The problem is that, in a hyper-sensitive culture, we assume someone being 'upset' requires some kind of reaction: a there-there, a soothing letter or placating policy announcement. Consult your granny: it does not. Read more These are the latest plans at the Glasgow School of Art. Really? No more Edinburgh Book Festival for me – where did it all go wrong? A Scottish legend says cancel culture is over. Yeah right The fact that someone was upset by the pictures of the event at Arthurlie Primary is also an indication of how flags work. Stick a flag up a pole – any flag, any pole – and you'll immediately please some people and upset others. The Union flag makes a particular type of Scottish nationalist puce with fury – God forbid any Scottish supermarket that puts it on British sausages – and increasingly the same applies to the saltire and a particular type of Unionist. The situation also got a lot worse after 2014, but we are where we are. What it means a decade on, in 2025, is that putting up a Union flag, or a saltire for that matter, in a school, or anywhere, is not a neutral act. Maybe there was a time, before the Scottish referendum, when flags went up without much comment; I also used to think, with some satisfaction, that a lot of Scots find naked patriotism and flags a wee bit embarrassing. But the referendum changed things, flags led to more flags (flagflation) and now there's anger because the flag you see isn't the 'right' one. Hence someone looking at a picture of an event at Arthurlie Primary and getting upset. There-there. The position the school takes now is that it was not their intention to imply the Union flag is sectarian but beyond that, it's unclear what their policy is. The council statement says the school should be 'focused on a diverse British society' and 'foster an ethos of respect for diverse perspectives and national identity'. So does that mean it's OK to put up Union flags to reflect one of the diverse national identities? Or does it mean it's not OK to put up Union flags because it only reflects one of the diverse national identities? They may have withdrawn the 'sectarian' accusation but where they actually stand on flags is uncertain. Jackson Carlaw (Image: PA) Perhaps if Ms McDonald had chosen her words more carefully, we wouldn't be in this position. The use of 'sectarian' was certainly ill-advised given its connection to the Troubles and traditional religious tensions which still bubble in parts of Scotland. She also failed to take into account that many Scots, including some of the parents of kids at her school, will feel positively about the Union flag and so ended up committing that most heinous of modern crimes: offending someone, while trying to avoid offending someone. She also appeared to be handing a kind of veto to people who get upset by the Union flag but get over-excited by saltires. You know the type. And why is it always me who ends up sitting next to them at parties? Anyway, expressed in a different way that didn't appear to single out the Union flag, perhaps the headteacher could have explained that there are dangers in all flags in schools. There will be some who argue that the Union flag is different and that it's the national flag of the UK and therefore represents everyone, but I'm afraid – given everything we've been through in the last ten years – that would be naïve at best or evasive at worst. Best, perhaps, for schools to just try to be neutral and, crucially, consistent: no Union flags, no saltires, no flags at all, not mine, not yours. The risk you run otherwise is that you start to introduce the kind of stuff that comes with flags. You may remember a few years ago Michael Gove suggesting 'British values' should be taught in English classrooms, no doubt draped with union flags. Some Scottish nationalists also talk about 'Scottish values' and maybe one day they'd like to teach them in schools plastered with saltires. But in this country, we're rather sceptical about all of that or used to be – it's something the Americans do, not us. And maybe that's something we should try to keep hold of. And maybe the best place to do it is in a classroom free of flags.

Scotsman

27 minutes ago

• Scotsman

'We don't feel valued' - Farmer angst over political uncertainty at Royal Highland Show

Inheritance tax and trade deal contribute to general sense of being 'well down the pecking order' Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... With hundreds of thousands of people walking through the gates to celebrate Scotland's largest agricultural show, you would think farmers felt supported. But that wasn't the general feeling among members of the farming community attending the Royal Highland Show in 2025, a year that has seen political change bring an uncertain future for many in the sector across the UK. Political promises Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon opened the show with promise sounding statements, including the Scottish Government's decision to reject climate change advice to cut livestock numbers by almost 30 per cent by 2040. However, Tory MSPs attending the show, including Tim Eagle and Finlay Carson, were quick to point out cattle herds and sheep flocks are in decline anyway, with little to no mention of how policy will protect numbers dwindling further. MSPs, including Tim Eagle (second from left) at a political debate at the NFUS stand at the Royal Highland Show | Katharine Hay Ms Gougeon also announced £14m will be available for farmers to apply for funding for the Future Farmers Investment scheme. Some in the industry, however, felt this will only back a few hundred businesses and will instead just 'get hopes up.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Farmers on the ground were fairly dismissive of the SNP politicians bearing gifts, with some in the showground accusing ministers of paying lip service. Uncertain future for next generation Ewan McCall, who farms Luing cattle near Golspie, in the north east Highlands, spoke to The Scotsman about the uncertainty he feels in the sector and for his children, who he hopes will have a future in agriculture. Ewan McCall, who farms Luing cattle in the north-east Highlands | Katharine Hay 'It has been a tough year,' he said. 'We have had a lot of pressures from government: inheritance tax, the ongoing problems with tree planting and the grab for land for that. 'There are the trade deal issues as well. There's so much uncertainty at the moment that we don't feel valued. We don't really know what the future will be for the next generation.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr McCall said the declining beef herds, if left to continue, will impact the wider agricultural industry. 'We don't want the cattle numbers to drop any further, nor sheep numbers,' he said. 'We need to think about food security at a government level and take it seriously. We are in a very uncertain world at the moment.' On a positive note, the farmer said prices for cattle are currently good. But it's a small bonus. 'There are mixed emotions,' Mr McCall added. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Our personal businesses have been okay. But it's the ongoing background pressures that probably have been putting a dampener on things. 'I am positive about the future but I would like to have more certainty about how things are going to progress and what the future holds for the next generation, for my kids.' Real impact of 'family-farm tax' Farming unions said they are going to keep up the pressure on UK ministers to revise or u-turn on the 'family farm' tax proposals. However, Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Murray, who attended the show on Thursday, said the party will not budge. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It is one of the many worries looming over the farming industry, including for Mr McColl. 'The difficulty is if I was to die early, my kids would be faced with massive inheritance tax,' he said. 'The farm would have to be sold and they wouldn't get the chance to farm and that's something I feel really strongly about. In that respect, it's not good at all.' Laura Needhin, farmer in Aberdeenshire, echoed Mr McCall's concerns. Laura Needhin, a sheep farmer in Aberdeenshire | Katharine Hay 'There's a lot of uncertainty ahead,' she said. 'I don't think the Labour government, in particular, are backing farmers enough. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Inheritance tax for lots of small farms that have moved through families for 200 hundred years are going to be gone. It's a big worry for a lot of farmers.' At the opening of this year's show, the National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS) called on the Scottish Government to promise a multi-annual funding commitment for the farming sector. Lack of detail on future of subsidies to support farmers It comes after years of uncertainty on how Scotland's subsidy system will work post-EU with only half of the scheme confirmed a decade after Brexit. Sheep farmer and Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) lecturer Heather Kerr said while price stability in the sector is relatively good at the moment, 'it's always something you worry about because, long-term, we don't have a huge amount of information with what's going on with subsidies.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Heather Kerr, a sheep farmer and lecturer at the SRUC | Katharine Hay Ms Kerr added: 'It's difficult to plan so that we can be in a good place when the changes come as they are not things that you can just change overnight.' The college lecturer said while the employment rate for students with rural skills is high, the barrier for new entrants into farming still remains strong for those without the cash for land. At a debate held in the NFUS stand at the show, promises were made from politicians of all political stripes to do more to encourage new entrants and young farmers in the industry. A young farmer's outlook Young farmer Alice Haig, who farms with her dad in Forfar, pointed to multiple challenges the younger generation face in the sector. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We're not as supported as people think we are. There's a bit of a rift in between people in towns and rural folk, and I think that's come on since this UK government has come in power.' She said the reality of farming doesn't always appeal to her peers, which could explain labour shortages in the sector. 'Sometimes younger people think it's a nine to five but it's not,' Ms Haig said. 'It's hard to get a job that's got set hours in farming. It's hard to make a good amount of money in farming. It's also hard to get reasonably priced housing in rural areas. It's cheaper to live in towns and cities, you get better paid, you can plan for the future. So I think farming suffers a bit from that. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Laura Haig, who farms with her father in Forfar, Angus | Katharine Hay 'It's not just young farmers. I think the lack of support that farming is getting as a whole means we are not supported as young farmers and we don't see it as a prospect that we might once have done.' Agriculture 'well down the pecking order' Elsewhere, farmers shared the undervalued sentiment. Gordon McConochie , a farmer from Grantown-on-spey in the Cairngorms National Park, said agriculture seems to be 'well down the pecking order' when it comes to other land management such as species reintroductions. Gordon McConachie, who was showing Aberdeen Angus and Highland Cattle at the Royal Highland Show | Katharine Hay He said the increase in raptors has been 'phenomenal', but the impact on the farming community and other species are often overlooked. 'I have no faith in any of the politicians to do anything radical. They seem to be scared to venture into agriculture. We are the whipping boys of the country at the moment. 'Our farming leaders need to be stronger.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Retired farmer Andrew McConchie, who ran a livestock farm in Dumfries and Galloway, said: 'I represent hill farming. The only thing the governments seem to be interested in is carbon capture. Retired farmer Andrew McConchie, who farmed in the south-west of Scotland and represents hill farming | Katharine Hay 'My grandson started farming now, I retired ten years ago, I definitely wouldn't change places with him. You just don't know whether you're wanted or not.

NBC News

2 hours ago

• NBC News

Israel-Iran conflict: Fresh attacks as Trump sets two-week deadline for U.S. action

What we know NEW WAVE OF STRIKES: Israel and Iran continued to exchange strikes today, a week into their war. Israel's military said it targeted areas in western Iran, while a building was hit in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba. EUROPE-IRAN TALKS: Iranian Foreign MinisterAbbas Araghchi will be in the Swiss city of Geneva today for talks with his British, French, German and E.U. counterparts in an effort to end the conflict. The U.S. envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will not attend. TRUMP CONSIDERS U.S. ACTION: President Donald Trump said he was still considering a U.S. military strike on Iran's nuclear sites. 'I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,' he said yesterday, according to the White House. HUNDREDS KILLED: Israeli strikes have killed at least 639 people in Iran since the conflict began a week ago, The Associated Press reported, citing a Washington-based human rights group. The Iranian health ministry says more than 2,500 people have been wounded. The death toll in Israel from Iran's retaliatory strikes remains at 24.