A Labour Police and Crime Commissioner has been criticised after it emerged she handed over £5,000 of taxpayers’ cash for a gay pride march – just weeks before a High Court judge ruled that allowing uniformed police officers to take part in such a parade was biased and unlawful.
Emily Spurrell, a former councillor and PCC for Merseyside, made the donation of public money to ‘save’ Liverpool Pride, which was under threat because of a shortage of funds.
The cash from her office – which was the top donation of any organisation or individual – helped the event to go ahead as planned, on July 26.
But just days earlier Northumbria Police was admonished by the High Court for allowing uniformed police officers to march under a Progress flag promoting transgender ideology at a pride march last year.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Linden said it was ‘contrary to the uniformed officers’ duties of impartiality’, as well as Northumbria Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine’s ‘own duty of impartiality, to participate in the 2024 march, in Newcastle, in the way that they did.’
