Pride row: How on earth could any impartial organisation like the police be in the centre of something where there is political disagreement Stephen Nolan asks Alliance MLA Eoin Tennyson

Given the protest element of the parade he was asked by presenter Stephen Nolan how could the police be expected to attend.

The PSNI recently reversed a decision it made in 2017 which allowed officers to take part in uniform, citing obligations to impartiality.

Discussing the growth of Pride in Belfast, Mr Tennyson said: “If you reflect on where we've come from over the past 30 years there certainly is an element of celebration in terms of the progress we have made.

"If you look at the pictures from the first parade in 1991 there were about 100 participants there. A lot of them didn't feel comfortable being in photos such was the public attitude at the time.

"Now we're seeing, in 2022, 70,000 people participating in the festival – it's one of the biggest if not the biggest parades in Northern Ireland. Given our history of parading I think that's quite the feat.”

He added: “There is still a protest element to pride, we know that there are still challenges for the LGBT community and while we should be positive about the progress that has been achieved we also need to be conscious that there is still some way to go.

“There are things are the levels of hate crime we're seeing in society that we want to raise awareness of and march in defiance of.

"We also know that Pride has been associated with political campaigns.

"There will be campaigns no doubt around a ban of conversion therapy which is required. And also protests around protection of our trans community based on some of the violence they have faced over recent months.”

He said: “It is still an important protest, but certainly in recent years there has been a fair amount of celebration and rightly so given how far we have come.”

Mr Nolan asked him: “How on earth could any impartial organisation like the police be in the centre of something where there is political disagreement?”

The Alliance MLA replied: “The police were very clear that they were not there to endorse individual campaigns or policy or legislative proposals. They were there to march with the core message of standing up for inclusion and diversity, showcasing that LGBT people are part of the police and also showcasing that the police are standing in solidarity with the LGBT community against the kind of hate and discrimination that they face.

"That distinction was important. It was well understand by the vast majority of people.

"We haven't had a clear answer about what is different this time.

"I think this has been a retrograde step, a slap in the face for the community.

"For the first time in my life it actually feels like we’re regressing on some of these issues.”

He said that it was not too late for the PSNI chief constable to reverse the decision and to “repair some of the damage that’s been done”.