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It is the sight that has inflamed emotions and angered Tories in the wake of Baroness Thatcher’s death.

Outside Birmingham’s historic Council House, the union flag flies proudly high.

So, too, do the flags bearing the cross of St George and Birmingham’s own civic emblem.

It is a scene in stark contrast with many other cities and towns across the UK, where flags are being flown at half-mast in memory of Margaret Thatcher, who died on Monday after suffering a stroke at the age of 87.

Britain’s only female prime minister will be honoured in a funeral with full military honours at St Paul’s Cathedral next Wednesday.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will lead mourners at the service, which will be attended by dignitaries from around the world.

The union flag flew at half-mast at Number 10 and above Parliament yesterday, with councils across the country following suit.

They included Kent County Hall, where Mrs Thatcher twice stood as MP for Dartford, and in her hometown of Grantham.

But not in Birmingham, the city where the Iron Lady and Longbridge convenor Derek ‘Red Robbo’ Robinson once clashed.

The city’s flags flew stubbornly at the top of their poles, much to the dismay of city Tories who branded Labour rulers ‘petty’.

In another act of defiance, several councillors boycotted a minute’s silence for Mrs Thatcher at yesterday’s full council meeting – choosing to remain outside the chamber rather than take part in the memorial tribute.







Former council leader Mike Whitby, the leading city Tory who met Mrs Thatcher, was last night angry at the slight.

“The Lord Mayor had requested that the flag be lowered, and many in the chamber would have felt it was appropriate,” he told the Birmingham Mail.

“Baroness Thatcher has been eulogised by world leaders and political leaders, regardless of their party political persuasion.

“They recognised the contribution that she made in elevating Britain’s reputation throughout the world.

“It is a sad day for Birmingham that the city council is not prepared to recognise what world leaders are prepared to recognise.”

Council chiefs do not accept that they are snubbing the late Premier who divided the nation.

They say that there is “no precedent” in recent years for lowering the flag on the Council House to mark the death of a Prime Minister who did not have a connection with the city.

The flag was last lowered to mark the deaths of Winston Churchill in 1965 and Clement Attlee in 1967, both of whom were Freemen of the City.

Council leader Sir Albert Bore said that Mrs Thatcher’s death had not been treated any differently.

“Certainly if you go back for the last two Prime Ministers who died – Ted Heath and James Callaghan – nothing was done by the city council.

“We have treated all prime ministers in the same way.”

There was more dissent, however, at the council meeting, where a number of councillors were conspicuous by their absence.

There were murmurs of discontent from the chamber as elected members filed into the chamber after the minute’s silence was up.

The move was branded “petty, mean and vindictive” by Northfield Tory councillor Peter Douglas Osborn.

But Washwood Heath Labour councillor MariamKhan defended her reasons for not taking part.





“I just decided to stay with the rest of the Labour group,” she said. “I think the majority of us decided to step out.

“I wasn’t around in Margaret Thatcher’s era myself – but for the majority of the people I think this action was about the policies she passed, and what she stood for.”

Baroness Thatcher has been granted a ceremonial funeral with full military honours – the same status accorded the Queen Mother and Diana, Princess of Wales – another move which has sparked debate.

Members of the armed services will line the route of Baroness Thatcher’s funeral procession from the Palace of Westminster to St Paul’s Cathedral, where her coffin will be carried through the streets of London on a gun carriage.

The Wednesday service will also mark the first time that the Queen has attended the funeral of a former prime minister since wartime premier Sir Winston Churchill’s deeply moving state ceremony in 1965.

But while Mrs Thatcher’s admirers have mourned her passing, some have seen her death as a cause of celebration.

Hundreds of people took the streets on Monday night across the country, staging street parties in London, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow.

And seven police officers were injured when a scuffle broke out at a party in Bristol celebrating Mrs Thatcher’s death early on Tuesday.

Riot police were deployed in Brixton, south London, while crowds set off fireworks outside Liverpool’s Lime Street Station.

Political group the West Midlands Solidarity Federation is planning to hold a “Thatcher’s Dead party” in Birmingham city centre on Saturday, with the initial location set for Victoria Square.

More than 80 people have joined a Facebook group which proclaims: “Ding dong, the witch is dead. Time to celebrate!”





* Ardent conservative Tessa Miller has paid her own tribute to the Iron lady – by lowering the union flag in the front garden of her Sutton Coldfield home.

And she criticised the council for a “lack of respect”.

The 64-year-old, who also has a signed picture of Mrs Thatcher hanging in her kitchen, said: “I’d been a huge admirer of Mrs Thatcher since I met her when I was 26, so the first thing I did when I got home after I heard the news was lower the flag.

“I’m not at all surprised Birmingham didn’t lower their flags but, whether you liked her or not, she did a great amount of good for this country.

“We were in a terrible condition in 1979. We were the sick man of Europe and down to a three-day week. We were a laughing stock.”