Beam Park Councillors Join Community Response After Reform UK Cancels Havering Pride Flag-Raising.

Labour councillors Matt Stanton and Trevor McKeever joined trade unions and local community groups outside Havering Town Hall on Monday 1 June to protest the new Reform UK-led administration’s decision to cancel the borough’s annual Pride flag-raising ceremony.

The official civic event was cancelled by the incoming leadership, but local residents, UNISON representatives and activists held a solidarity gathering to ensure the occasion was still marked.

The cancellation comes despite the Pride flag’s presence at Havering Town Hall being the result of sustained local campaigning. In 2018, Labour and Trade Union activists including Fay Hough, Nick West and Trevor McKeever successfully pushed the council to reverse an initial refusal to fly the flag, securing its recognition as a civic symbol of support for the borough’s LGBT+ community.

Following the event, Cllrs Stanton and McKeever released a joint statement:

“While the right of the new administration to run the council as it sees fit is not in dispute, it is disappointing that the first civic occasion since they took over has been cancelled so abruptly and without clear explanation.

Civic acts like flag-raisings matter because they show, in a visible way, whether people are welcomed, recognised and supported in their own community.”

Cllr Matt Stanton said:

“Eleanor Roosevelt once said that human rights are not found on a map of the world, but in our schools, our workplaces and our communities.

That is why Pride matters — recognition and equality for the LGBT+ community is not a settled matter, and withdrawing public support is a backwards step.

The Pride flag in Havering wasn’t always guaranteed — it was secured because local people organised, campaigned and made their voices heard.”

Cllr Trevor McKeever added:

“Community doesn’t mean we all look, act, talk and dress the same; it means that we celebrate and respect the things that make us unique against the backdrop of our commonality.

The fact that residents had to fight to get this recognised in the first place makes it all the more disappointing to see that recognition withdrawn so easily.”

The Beam Park Labour councillors emphasised that they will always make time for anyone who feels excluded in Havering, for any reason. They thanked the community groups, trade unions and local activists whose swift mobilisation ensured that the borough’s diverse communities were not silenced.

Councillors Matt Stanton and Trevor McKeever at the Pride event yesterday.

Stay up to date with all of our latest updates and content by following us on our social media accounts!

We have created community pages where we will share our up-to-date stories happening in the area. Add the area closest to where you live.