Back in 2024 a Linzi Smith a Lesbian from Newcastle put in an objection to Northumberland Police’s decision to allow officers from that force to take part in, not just police, a local Pride festival. Ms Smith objected to this on the grounds that to do this and march in uniform under the Trans inclusive ‘Progress Pride’ flag could give the public the impression that the police were expressing a political viewpoint and were breaching rules about police impartiality.

In October 2025 the case was finally concluded and the court ruled conclusively in Ms Linzi Smith’s favour. The Sex Matters site reporting on this case said:

The court found that Chief Constable Jardine had failed to consider relevant factors, including the risk that marching in uniform could create the appearance of partiality. The judgment noted that “Those who do not agree with the position of Northern Pride on transgender rights are not welcome on marches organised by Northern Pride”. Jardine’s reasoning was judged to be outside the range of reasonable decisions open to her: the judgment stated that her reasoning did not provide a rational basis for her decision and also noted that she also had an incorrect understanding of the public-sector equality duty.

The court declared that the 2024 decision to authorise uniformed participation in Newcastle Pride was unlawful and stated that the Chief Constable should review her analysis of impartiality following the ruling. It was noted that forthcoming national police guidance should take the court’s findings into account.

That’s a pretty clear and easy to understand result from the court and a lot of police forces have been acting upon it and are forbidding officers in uniform from taking part in Pride events. These forces are wise to do this. This is because an officer marching under a Pride flag and especially the Troon influenced Progress Pride flag is definitely going to look at least to those who are on the opposite side to the Cult of Trans like they are taking a side and supporting a particular political viewpoint.

The October 2025 judgement is clear and concise and the actions that needed to be taken by police forces to comply with it are clearly spelled out. No rainbow badges, no placards, no political slogans on police vehicles and no officers marching in Pride parades waving flags. Most police forces seem to have taken the result of Ms Smith’s court win onboard. They are turning up to Pride festivals to police them as they would any other public event but they are not taking part in them, not slathering themselves in rainbow stickers or marching in uniform in them or anything similar. Most forces have seen the court’s judgement and have acted according.

However West Mercia Police have seemingly not obeyed this judgment. According to the account of Inspector Gadget who I believe is either a serving or retired police officer, a female officer from West Mercia Police was photographed at a recent Pride festival in Ross on Wye in Herefordshire waving a rainbow flag. This as both Inspector Gadget and myself believe is an act that could well be a breach of the court’s instruction that such activities that give rise to a perception of a lack of impartiality should be curtailed.

Here’s what Inspector Gadget said on X:

R (Lindsey Smith) v Chief Con of Northumbria Police 2025. Mr Justice Linden ruled: Police may attend Pride to police the event. But police may NOT actively participate in the parade in uniform. (Ross-on-Wye, Pride 2026 )

@WMerciaPolice

get this sorted.

Here’s the image of the officer waving the rainbow flag. I’ve cropped it slightly to make the officer more prominent but the original is on Inspector Gadget’s X page.

The police accountability organisation We Are Fair Cop was the originator of the image of the police officer with the rainbow flag and said on X:

Ross on Wye – uniformed police officer marching with flag. Please let us know if you have any more evidence of this behaviour.

Apparently someone did and pointed out in that thread that a West Mercia PCSO had also been seen flying a rainbow flag at Ross on Wye Pride.

These two incidents are clearly breaches of the court judgment in the case of Linzi Smith vs Northumbria Police and West Mercia Police need to take action to ensure that this never happens again. Flying the rainbow or even worse the Progress Pride flag is not a neutral act, it is declaring a political position and therefore should not be done by police officers.

Some people might think that this is a minor issue but it’s no different from police officer kneeling during the Black Lives Matter disturbances, it’s declaring a political position. I ask you would you be happy with a police officer waving a fascist or a communist flag during a demonstration or a parade or displaying any sign denoting support of any particular political party or current? If you are reasonable and want policing to be impartial then of course you would not want to see that.

From what I can gather West Mercia Police is pretty seriously addled with gender ideology from senior down to very junior officers. I’ve heard some right toe curlers about them when it comes to gender woo woo but I’m not in a position to go public with them due to confidentiality promises*.

Whilst I understand that there are more egregious incidents of public bodies promoting controversial political campaigns and promoting transgenderism, such as what goes on in the NHS, West Mercia Police probably need to be politely reminded of the result of the Smith case and the operational implications of Smith Vs Northumbria Police.

If you wish to make an email complaint to West Mercia Police about the incidents at Ross on Wye Pride then you need to go via West Mercia Police’s professional standards department whose email address is:

op**@we********.uk











If you wish to make a written complaint to the police stations that covers Ross on Wye then you need to write to them at: Old Maids Walk, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 5HB. If you wish to hand in a personal written complaint then please remember that Ross police office does not at present have a public front desk. If you want hand in your written complaint to a human then you will have to go to Hereford Police Station, Bath Street, Hereford, Herefordshire, HR1 2HT.

This might seem a minor issue but this really is a thin end of the wedge matter. If police are allowed to march in a Pride waving a rainbow flag then it damages the public’s perception of police impartiality. It’s better that this sort of behaviour is nipped in the bud now by way of polite public complaint than we go back to the situation where police officers are seemingly partisan towards Pride festivals that have increasingly become, because of their focus on Trans issues, hostile to groups such as Lesbians and gender critical Gays and Bisexuals.

It should be intolerable to all of us whether we are gay, straight or bisexual that police are seen to be and act impartially. To not do this damages the public image of the police and public confidence in the police especially at this time when complaints about two tier policing are getting more and more common and more and more numerous.

Links

We are Fair Cop post

https://x.com/WeAreFairCop/status/2070079629667295333

Inspector Gadget post

https://x.com/InspGadgetBlogs/status/2070109201230176271

Sex Matters post on the subject of the Linzi Smith Vs Northumbria Police case.

https://sex-matters.org/case-briefings/lindsey-smith-v-the-chief-constable-of-northumbria-police/

* When I joined the National Union of Journalists decades ago I had to promise that I’d never reveal or compromise my sources and even though I’m no longer a member of the NUJ I took and still take this oath I made very seriously.