Reform UK has expelled a councillor after leaked WhatsApp messages revealed he described the St George’s Cross as a “crusade” symbol and said he was “not aligned” with its use, preferring instead to fly the Union Jack.
Cllr Aaron Roy, who had defected from Labour to Reform just last month, made the remarks during a private message exchange about a row over flag-flying in Hartlepool. The messages, obtained by The Sun, show Roy distancing himself from the St George’s Cross and questioning whether it was appropriate to display it alongside flags representing other nations. “Does this mean it’s ok to fly India / Palestine / Pakistan flags too??” he wrote, quoting a Labour message that said there was “nothing wrong” with flying flags.
Reform moved swiftly to remove him from the party after The Sun approached the party with the messages. “Reform is proud of our nation’s flags, and there’s no place in our party for anyone with views such as those shared by Cllr Aaron Roy,” a spokesman said. “As soon as his comments were brought to our attention he was expelled from the party.”
The timing is particularly awkward for Reform, which only last week pledged to fund flagpoles for every school in England, with a requirement to fly the Union Flag as the primary national symbol and the St George’s Cross displayed alongside it where additional poles were available.
Roy, an Indian citizen who was originally elected as a Labour councillor in 2024, denied he had ever criticised the St George’s Cross and insisted his remarks had been about “perception and perspective.” He said he was “proud of England and proud of Hartlepool” and stood by his preference for the Union Jack as a “unifying national symbol.”
In a statement defending his original comments, Roy said: “The St George’s Cross has a long and well-documented historical association with the Christian Crusades, and that history is read differently by people of different backgrounds. My question about flags from India, Pakistan and Palestine was not a dismissal of any flag — it was a test, from someone whose own family flag is one of those I named, of whether Labour’s policy was coherent, consistent and applied equally to everyone in our town. It is a question I was entitled to ask. It is one I would ask again.”
