The decision to lower flags at government buildings and Buckingham Palace has angered politicians across the spectrum

Prince Charles and David Cameron are flying to Saudi Arabia on Saturday to pay tribute to the late King Abdullah amid a growing row over the decision to mark his death by flying flags at half-mast on public buildings in London.



The sign of respect for the monarch has drawn sharp criticism from some prominent politicians and human rights campaigners because of Saudi Arabia’s abuses of free speech and women’s rights, and the country’s role as a cradle of Islamist extremism.

The leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson, posted a message on Twitter condemning the move as “a steaming pile of nonsense”, and the Ukip MP Douglas Carswell said it showed Whitehall officials held immoral values far from those of the British public.

No 10, the houses of parliament and Westminster Abbey are among the buildings in London where the government guidance has been followed after Abdullah’s death overnight on Thursday.



The tribute was paid even though the sentencing of a Saudi blogger to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam has thrust the country’s dismal human rights record into the spotlight in recent weeks.

Carswell blamed the “Sir Humphreys who run British foreign policy” for the tribute, saying they were out of touch with public feeling.

“It is an extraordinary misjudgment by the out-of-touch elite in Whitehall who think it is appropriate to do this,” he said.

“On the day that flags at Whitehall are flying at half-mast for King Abdullah, how many public executions will there be?”

Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, said: “I think many people will wonder why, if the government feels the UK’s relationship with Saudi Arabia is so close as to warrant the lowering of our flag at the death of its king, those ties are not being used much more effectively to secure the basic rights and freedoms of the citizens of that country.”

Labour MP Paul Flynn said the tribute was “liable to bring infantile fawning over royalty into disrepute”. It was evidence of the establishment’s “extraordinary subservience” to foreign royals.

Kate Allen, Amnesty International’s UK director, said: “No one is flying flags for the scores of people Saudi Arabia executes each year after unfair trials, and we should focus on the human rights reality in Saudi Arabia, not the emblems of diplomacy.

“When the flags are run back up their flagpoles the UK government needs to move on from the tributes and put on public record their desire to see sweeping human rights reform under King Salman.”

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said it had asked government buildings to fly the union flag at half-mast for 12 hours, in line with protocol that says this is appropriate following the death of a foreign monarch.

Abdullah, thought to be aged about 90, died after two decades in power in the world’s biggest oil exporting country. He has been succeeded by his 79-year-old half-brother, Salman.

One Westminster source said the decision, which was widely criticised on social media, was taken at the behest of Buckingham Palace. A spokesman for the palace confirmed that it was consulted about decisions to fly flags at half-mast, but said that No 10 and the Foreign Office were consulted too.



In a statement to Salman, the Queen – now the world’s oldest monarch – said she was saddened to learn of the death.

She said: “Your distinguished brother Abdullah had devoted his life to the service of the kingdom and the service of Islam. He will be long remembered by all who work for peace and understanding between nations and between faiths.”

The prime minister said he was “deeply saddened” and that the ruler would be “remembered for his long years of service to the kingdom, for his commitment to peace and for strengthening understanding between faiths”.

Former leader Tony Blair said Abdullah was a “stable and sound ally ... a patient and skilful moderniser” in a turbulent time in the region.

Ironically, at the Saudi embassy, their flag was flying at full mast. Saudi Arabia does not observe official mournings and in the kingdom flags were not flying at half-mast.

Asked to justify its decision to fly its flag at half-mast, Wesminster Abbey said in a statement: “We always fly a flag. It is at half-mast because the government has decided to fly their flags at half-mast today.

“For us not to fly at half-mast would be to make a noticeably aggressive comment on the death of the king of a country to which the UK is allied in the fight against Islamic terrorism.

“Nor would it have done anything to support the desperately oppressed Christian communities of the Middle East for whom we pray constantly and publicly.”

Carswell’s comments were not endorsed by his party leader, Nigel Farage. A spokesman for Farage said: “Lowering a flag is an issue of diplomatic protocol, respect for an ally in the war on terror.

“We should forcefully take up the issue of human rights with the new not the dead king.”