Whitehall tried to block Dundee/Nablus twinning

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Whitehall sought to thwart Nablus link
thecourier.co.uk

TOP GOVERNMENT officials sought to thwart Dundee’s twinning with the Palestinian town of Nablus, newly declassified documents have shown.

In 1980, the link pitched the city into controversy amid accusations of support for the Palestine Liberation Organisation, with the unfurling of the Palestinian flag at the City Chambers causing particular outrage. Opposition councillors campaigned against the move, pushed through by the council’s Labour administration influenced by George Galloway, and demonstrations were held in City Square.

It has now emerged the developments were being closely monitored at Westminster, with then home secretary Willie Whitelaw receiving regular updates. Malcolm Rifkind, then a Scottish Office minister of state, sought advice from civil servants on ways to overturn the move.

One newly-released document says, “(Mr Rifkind) understands the PLO flag now flies from the Dundee City Chambers. Might the Lord Lyon (the official heraldic authority in Scotland) have anything to say about this? Dundee ratepayers’ money is apparently being spent on this bogus twinning project. Does the council have any right to do this? Could their action be subject—by, say, a ratepayer—to challenge in the courts?” Ultimately these efforts came to nothing, as Dundee is still twinned with Nablus and a Palestinian flag remains at the city chambers.

Last night Neil Powrie—a Dundee councillor who led the Tory opposition to the twinning—said he “was not surprised in the slightest” by the revelation developments were closely scrutinised. It was one of the most controversial subjects of the time and the Conservative opposition on the council were against it. The Labour council was extremely left wing at the time and they carried the votes and we couldn’t stop it. People from all over the city were upset at the decision—particularly the Jewish community. The fact (the government) were taking advice to ascertain if any legal action could be taken against it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.”

Mr Powrie, who was first elected to Dundee District Council in 1979, stood by his decision to oppose the twinning. “Time has moved on and things have changed and Nablus remains one of our sister cities with delegations visiting the city regularly,” he said. “However, the twinning was being done for blatantly political reasons by a Labour administration rife with extreme left-wingers.”

Though Mr Galloway was never elected to Dundee District Council, he was instrumental in the twinning, leading a delegation that met Nablus’s mayor Bassam Shaka’a in 1980. That delegation included then Dundee West MP Ernie Ross, who last night said the twinning had been important in bringing the issues surrounding Palestine to British public attention.

“Up to then they were regarded as a terrorist outfit— largely because prior to that their cause had only been mentioned by those on the extreme edge of the political movement,” he said. “The Palestinian voice wasn’t being heard but within a year the issue was being discussed nationally at the Labour Party conference and almost every trade union in the country had a position on it.”

Of the Westminster opposition to the move, he said, “It was rather sad how it was handled, particularly at a national level. It had nothing to do with Malcolm Rifkind or Willie Whitelaw —it was a matter for Dundee council alone. For years we fought a lonely battle, but throughout it all we knew we were right.”

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What a great wee chunk of history (repeating itself?)...

Here's a website about the twinning

www.dundee-nablus.org.uk

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Tory anger over Dundee council’s PLO flag revealed
Civil servant suggested sabotage
By Shona Gossip
12/10/2009
pressandjournal.co.uk

A PALESTINIAN Liberation Organisation flag hanging from Dundee City Council’s chambers caused controversy among government ministers when it was first flown during the Thatcher era, a new document has revealed. The flag, which represents the twinning of Dundee and the West Bank town of Nablus in November 1980, was hung by the Labour party under the suggestion of then-city councillor George Galloway.

According to a newly declassified UK Government document, the move so incensed Conservative ministers that they considered various ways of removing it. One civil servant suggested it could be sabotaged, writing on April 3, 1981: “The flag is in a very secluded part of the council chambers and could be stolen, destroyed or damaged very easily if anyone had a mind to take this kind of action.” Another suggested persuading a Dundee citizen to mount a legal challenge on the grounds that it breached ancient heraldry rules, or convincing the Lord Advocate that its presence represented a breach of the peace.

The files also show the government asked its legal advisers if flying the flag of a terrorist organisation was illegal. An unnamed legal adviser said he did not consider it an offence, adding: “The police may not impose conditions in order to the carrying of flags and banners, except such as reasonably necessary to prevent risk of a breach of the peace.”

Yesterday Mr Galloway, who left Dundee in 1983 and is now an MP for the Respect party in London, said he was surprised civil servants had suggested sabotaging the flag. He said: “This was clearly an incitement of an illegal act and one which, when I get the file, I may well pursue. It is quite chilling to learn that in the undergrowth of government such measures are canvassed.”

The government eventually conceded there was no legal basis for forcing the council to remove the flag, and a PLO standard remains at the city chambers today.

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The reporter's name is 'Shona Gossip' - bit unfortunate there!