Rugby councillor calls for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller flag to be flown to help stamp out racism and prejudice

A councillor has called for the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community to be celebrated this month by flying their flag at Rugby Town Hall.

Cllr John Slinger (Lab, New Bilton) wants the GRT flag to fly high as part of GRT History Month.

At a meeting of Rugby Borough Council, he said: "Flying the flag would, I believe, serve three main purposes: to demonstrate that we as a Council regard the GRT community as fully integral to the wider Borough community; to encourage people to learn more about the GRT community during GRT History Month, and finally, to show clearly that we condemn, unreservedly, racism and prejudice against this community.”

Council Leader Coun Derek Poole said: “I am immensely proud of the work of this council to ensure that our services are accessible to all our communities, and that all our communities feel safe and supported. Until last month I led this work as Chair of the Council’s Equality and Diversity Steering Group.

“The month of June is Pride month, and we are proud to fly the Pride Flag in support of our LGBTQ+ communities. We fly this flag to assert out condemnation of prejudice against them – but the main reason is based upon the engagement with the LGBT+ communities and the subsequent Action Plan taken via the Steering Group in 2019.

“I look forward to the Steering Group continuing its work and bringing forward its proposed strategy for all members’ consideration.”