CAMDEN Council are still ‘getting back’ on whether it will join a series of other local authorities paying their respects by dipping its flag above the Town Hall at half mast in honour of Margaret Thatcher. A fair few councils, regardless of whether she had any strong connection to their area, thought it was the right thing to do from the moment the news of her death broke. It seemed fair to ask Camden what it would do.

Council leader Sarah Hayward tweeted last night that the council was looking at ‘precedent and protocol’ to see what to do.

Of course, local authorities don’t actually need to worry too much about officialdom’s precedents and protocols if they really, really want to pay a tribute. If you’ve got the will to do something – if anybody felt strongly enough about it at Camden HQ – you can fly whatever flag you want, however you want, whenever you want. That’s why, up on the roof, two years ago the council had no problem flying a red flag for that loudest of local campaigners, Ellen Luby.

Camden police, meanwhile, have their flag at half mast in Kentish Town, but the local force don’t mess around with this kind of thing. In 2006, flags were dipped at Camden’s copshops to mark the death of US president Gerald Ford.