Minister 'sick' of YesCymru's Welsh independence stickers

YesCymru is a pro-independence group

A UK government minister has said he is "sick" of seeing stickers from a pro-independence campaign.

David TC Davies defended plans for an eight-storey high union jack on the corner of a new UK government building in Cardiff.

A YesCymru petition against the new sign has attracted 16,000 signatures.

But Mr Davies claimed that the organisation illegally places stickers "all over the place" without planning permission.

The flag has been approved as an advertisement by Cardiff council's planning department - the vinyl sign will stand 32m-high (105ft), 9m-wide.

Named Tŷ William Morgan/William Morgan House, the building houses the HMRC tax office previously based in Ty Glas, and civil servants from several other departments.

The Department for International Trade, the Wales Office and the Cabinet Office will also use the building.

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"I'm frankly sick of seeing YesCymru stickers illegally placed all over signs and buildings in Wales," the Wales Office minister told a media briefing.

"I think if they want the moral high ground, they should remember that we apply for planning permission for our flag.

"If they want to start applying planning permission for all the stickers they're posting illegally all over the place they might have some grounds for discussion, but right now they haven't."

The sign will stand at the corner of the new building

Welsh Secretary Simon Hart said Queen Elizabeth House in Edinburgh has identical union flag branding to what is planned for Tŷ William Morgan.

He said the most prominent part of Tŷ William Morgan, "and what you can see for miles, is the Welsh flag on the roof."

"There is an absurdity about this that somehow an Union flag is not an appropriate way to brand a UK government building."

He said it "disguises another agenda going on in the minds of some people", and added: "we should be pleased and proud of the fact that we remain part of the union and we're proud to say that.

"But it isn't at the expense of any of our patriotic feelings or sense of national identity - far from it."

Tŷ William Morgan is the new base for HMRC in Cardiff

The petition says "visitors, commuters and residents should not be faced with a gigantic Union Jack flag on arrival at Cardiff Central railway station".

"This decision by Cardiff Council Planning Committee to grant permission to drape the HMRC building on Central Square is an act of political symbolism designed to promote 'muscular unionism' a reminder to the people of Wales of their subservient status in the United Kingdom."

Welsh Labour First Minister Mark Drakeford accused the UK government of "muscular unionism" in his criticism of Boris Johnson's government last week.

Elin Hywel from YesCymru told BBC Two's Politics Live programme: "To begin with my country is Wales, I am Welsh, and my flag is the red dragon.

"It's quite insensitive to people's identities. When you feel your identity is being suppressed, is being excluded from spaces where we conduct our business... it has a negative effect on our confidence."