Dragon call over Union Flag

A former Shropshire solicitor has urged the Government to combine the Union Flag with the Welsh flag to represent the country's "true place in the Union".Wrexham's Labour MP Ian Lucas, who used to practise in Oswestry, wants the radical change to reflect the changing status of Wales within the UK.

He wants to combine the Red Dragon - or Ddraig Goch - from the Welsh flag, with the red, white and blue pattern of the Union Flag.

In a Commons debate, Mr Lucas said that the Union Flag, only represented three nations within the UK.

He said: "Just as the Union Flag has changed in the past to reflect the new constitutional settlement when Ireland came into the United Kingdom at the start of the 19th century, I believe that the Union Flag should change now to reflect the four nations of the United Kingdom."

But the MP came under fire from Tory MPs.

Stephen Crabb said Mr Lucas was a member of a "party that has governed this country for 10 years and engaged in a decade of constitutional vandalism that has left this country with a divisive and unstable devolution settlement that is ultimately going to pull this country apart".

And Andrew Rosindell said: "What he seems to be proposing is actually the ripping up of the current flag of our country and a redesign to incorporate the Welsh dragon."