Resignations, Cancelled Meetings and Culture Wars: How Reform UK Councils Are Descending Into Chaos

Nigel Farage’s band of newly-elected councillors are already starting to struggle, reports Josiah Mortimer

After the election counts finished and the camera crews headed home, Reform UK councillors – over 800 of them now, running 12 councils – had to grapple with a new question: ‘What are we going to do now?’

Now that question is starting to be answered.

We’ve dug through local news coverage and talked to local constituents and opposition councillors on the ground to figure out what the new Reform councils have been up to. It’s not been smooth sailing, to say the least.

Across England there have been stories of cancelled meetings, suspensions, resignations, and more than a few culture wars.

Here’s just Reform’s local councillors have been getting up to since May 1st. It’s not been smooth running.

Resignations, Cancelled Meetings and Culture Wars: How Reform UK Councils Are Descending Into Chaos, Josiah Mortimer, bylinetimes.com

#cancelled #Chaos #failedToDoHomework #JosiahMortimer #Quiting #InTheNews

Reform councillors reported to police by colleague

Infighting in the Reform UK party in Devon has seen two county councillors and an election agent reported to police by a colleague over election expenses.

Neil Stevens and his brother Tony were elected for Reform in May and documents seen by the BBC allege Neil Stevens spent about £170 more than the campaign spending limit.

This was reported to police by Ed Hill, who was also elected for Reform in May and was the chairman of the Exeter branch but was removed from the post for what the party says was bringing it “into disrepute”.

Reform councillors reported to police by colleague, BBC

#Devon #EdHill #Exeter #failedToDoHomework #Infighting #NeilStevens #police #TonyStevens #vettingFail #InTheNews

Reform’s ‘Britannia cards’ will cost £34 billion

Speaking today at Church House in Westminster, Nigel Farage announced that Reform will introduce a ‘Britannia card’ that will let wealthy foreigners pay a £250,000 fee to move to the UK, and live here exempt from all tax on their foreign assets. The move is an attempt to win over ‘non-doms’ alienated by Labour and Conservative governments and bring their wealth back into the country.

The party says the policy will raise between £1.5 and £2.5 billion annually. Our analysis of the data suggests it is more likely to cost around £34 billion over five years.

Reform’s ‘Britannia cards’ will cost £34 billion, www.spectator.co.uk

#failedToDoHomework #fantasyEconomics #NigelFarage #ReformInefficiencyDepartment #InTheNews

‘Get Some Help’: David Lammy Mocks Reform MP For Repeating ‘Conspiracy Theory’ In Commons

David Lammy accused a Reform UK MP of “swallowing conspiracy theories” over a question she asked him in the House of Commons.

The foreign secretary told Sarah Pochin to “get some help” after she suggested the government’s controversial decision to give the Chagos Islands to Mauritius had played a part in America’s plans for bombing Iran.

‘Get Some Help’: David Lammy Mocks Reform MP For Repeating ‘Conspiracy Theory’ In Commons, Huff Po

#conspiracyTheories #failedToDoHomework #SarahPochin #InTheNews

Lammy urges Reform’s newest MP to ‘get some help’ over ‘conspiracy theories’

David Lammy has urged a Reform UK MP to “get some help” because she is “swallowing conspiracy theories”.

Sarah Pochin had asked the Foreign Secretary whether the US felt unable to use the UK-US airbase on Diego Garcia, following the Government’s deal with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands.

Responding during a statement on the Middle East, Mr Lammy said the MP for Runcorn and Helsby should “get off social media”.

[…]

Mr Lammy replied: “The honourable lady has got (to) get off social media, has got to get some help… because she is swallowing conspiracy theories that should not be repeated in this House.”

Lammy urges Reform’s newest MP to ‘get some help’ over ‘conspiracy theories’

#conspiracyTheories #failedToDoHomework #SarahPochin #TheySaidThat_

Inferior pension schemes won’t create savings nor recruit vital staff

Commenting on remarks made by Richard Tice about preventing new recruits to Reform-controlled councils from joining the local government pension scheme alongside threats to cut the pay of existing employees, UNISON assistant general secretary Jon Richards said today (Thursday):

“This looks like another Reform UK policy scribbled on the back of a beer mat.

“Local authorities are obliged to offer access to the local government pension scheme to all new starters.

“The scheme is well-funded and affordable. Many council employees aren’t on final salary schemes anyway.

“Forcing council staff on to inferior pensions would leave retired workers much poorer and add to the already severe recruitment crisis in local government.

“Employees’ pensions aren’t the reason why many councils are on a financial precipice. It’s the decade and more of draconian budget cuts under Conservative governments.

“Reform claims to be on the side of workers. But declaring ‘war’ on low-paid staff won’t serve communities or cut budgets.”

Reform UK’s pension plan deserves early retirement, www.unison.org.uk

#failedToDoHomework #fantasyEconomics #JonRichards #RichardTice #UNISON #InTheNews

Does reform not know how councils work that it threatens our privacy?

Kent County Councillor, Tim Prater of the Liberal Democrats, has roundly condemned Reform’s latest attempt to emulate Donald Trump.

In a letter to Kent County Council (KCC) signed by Linden Kemkaran (KCC leader for Reform), Nigel Farage, and Zia Yusuf, Reform have demanded access to all KCC data (even sensitive information about residents) for a group of unelected persons that Reform has chosen not to let the public know about.

Cllr Prater called it an “attack on Kent by Reform UK national leadership”.

This embarrassing, threatening and totally misjudged letter to Kent County Council tonight is an attack on Kent by Reform UK national leadership, countersigned by their new Kent leader who clearly doesn’t have a clue.

Anyone with the first understanding of how local Government has worked for the last 30 years knows the information they request is almost all public anyway. I suggest their highly expert DOGE team try “googling a bit”.

The rest is either subject to the same FOI constraints as apply to the public or other Councillors. To suggest there is top secret information here is nonsense on shifts, brought to you by people who have no understanding of how any public organisation in this country works. Mainly because they have never worked within local government in this country.

The irony that they have not released the “appended” list of “DOGE” representatives who should be given access to any data they imagine is interesting is not lost on us. They can ask for information on millions of Kent residents, thousands of Kent employees, but you won’t even tell us who they are?

The Lib Dems stand with Kent residents, and Kent County Council staff.

There is a process. That process includes the Council meetings your administration have cancelled at KCC over the next 3 weeks. They can ask for information in a public and democratically accountable way. You might not understand the process, but that’s your fault, not theirs.

DOGE in the USA just fell apart, having failed to find much of interest or actual saving, making a highly embarrassing series of blunders, some life threatening, and its leader Musk slamming the most recent Government bill and then quitting to spend more time with his failing business. To visit that pain on Kent is to hold us in contempt. We say no.

Liberal Democrat Cllr Tim Prater, via Facebook

#DOGE #DOLGE #failedToDoHomework #LiberalDemocrats #LindenKemkaran #NigelFarage #TimPrater #ZiaYusuf #TheySaidThat_

The cost of Reform UK’s anti-environmental policies

Reform UK has said it will scrap net zero and cut all renewable subsidies – the impact would be hugely damaging

[…]

Reform UK has said it will scrap net zero with various figures banded around by the party’s representatives for how much this will raise – anywhere from £225bn to £45bn. The Institute for Government, who’s analysis is used to calculate the larger of these two figures, has already said the Party has misrepresented its analysis and failed to acknowledge that most of this investment will come from the private sector – in other words, Reform UK’s policies would likely destroy much needed investment into the UK economy.

But what is the real cost of their anti-renewable and anti-net zero policies? It is important to ensure all political parties are accountable to the public and the impacts of their policies are estimated in a transparent and consistent manner.

The cost of Reform UK’s anti-environmental policies, New Economics Foundation

#environment #failedToDoHomework #fantasyEconomics #ReformInefficiencyDepartment #scrapping #InTheNews

Farage’s numbers don’t add up

Stuart Adam, a senior economist at Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, said increasing the annual income tax allowance to £20,000 could cost between £50bn and £80bn a year, depending on the details.

“As it stands, I don’t think they’ve really set out how they would pay for such big giveaways,” he said.

“Of course they don’t have to do that yet – we’re not at a general election. But at some point, if they’re going to be a party of government, they would have to make those numbers add up.”

Stuart Adam (on Reform’s fantasy tax cuts) via BBC

#failedToDoHomework #fantasyEconomics #InstituteForFiscalStudies #NigelFarage #StuartAdam #TheySaidThat_

The economic fantasies of Reform UK

Nigel Farage’s fiscal arithmetic is as eye-catching as it is unserious.

[…]

That reality is the sticking point. Raising the tax threshold to £20,000 is estimated to cost between £50bn and £80bn all on its own. Reform claims to have found a cool £225bn down the back of the Treasury sofa by scrapping net zero and insists it could save more still by cutting funding to quangos. Good luck, as they say, with that.

But how successful will Reform’s opponents be at pointing this out? Shadow chancellor Mel Stride has been out and about, calling Farage’s plans “fantasy economics”, while Labour has gone for “fantasy promises”. Farage’s answer to this charge was that all parties fudge the figures in their manifestos, suggesting Reform’s creative accounting was par for the course. Against the general backdrop of disillusionment with the political establishment, the narrative will be that Reform are no worse than the other parties – and that official estimates should be viewed sceptically anyway.

One attack line might get through. “Trussonomics on steroids” was how the Liberal Democrats responded to Tuesday’s proposals.

The economic fantasies of Reform UK, New Statesman

#failedToDoHomework #fantasyEconomics #netZero #ReformInefficiencyDepartment #Trussonomics #InTheNews