Business of the House

Henry Smith Excerpts

Thursday 15th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important issue for his constituents and he will have opportunities to raise this, such as with the Home Secretary at the next Home Office questions. I will of course make sure that the Home Office is aware of his concerns. I know my right hon. Friends the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister take these matters very seriously, so I will make sure they are aware of the point the hon. Gentleman has made today.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Perhaps because I am a vexillologist MP, I have been approached by the office of the majority leader in the US House of Representatives to see whether it might be possible to facilitate an exchange of the Union flag flying over the Victoria Tower and the flag flying over the US Capitol to mark the long historical and friendship links between the United Kingdom and the United States. I would be grateful for the advice of my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House—and indeed you, Mr Speaker—as to how that might be facilitated.

[Mr Hague]

Personally, I am a great enthusiast for reinforcing and commemorating the intimate links between the United States and the United Kingdom. The US is our most important bilateral relationship and our greatest ally in the world, so we must take this request seriously. I will have to discuss—no doubt with you, Mr Speaker, and others in the House—how we go about facilitating and deciding on any such flag exchange, so I will come back to my hon. Friend on this point.