Free from fear or favour
Tracking and cookies. WHY?
Nigel Farage with fellow party officials at a Reform UK press conference in London in August 
Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Reform

Uncovered

‘A Formal Decision Was Not Required’

Durham County Council Removes Pride and Ukraine Flags on Leader’s Whim

Critics called the move ‘deeply undemocratic’ and ‘Trumpian’ after the Reform UK-led council could provide no formal record or reasoning for the change. Josiah Mortimer reports

Reform UK-led Durham County Council has been accused of dodging democratic accountability after removing the Pride flag supporting LGBT+ rights and that of Ukraine from council buildings without any formal decision-making process or paper trail.

In May, shortly after being elected, the council – like others run by the party – removed the flags from its headquarters. However, no formal decision was recorded to enact the move, according to a Freedom of Information request – despite the council having an official flag protocol.

Syd Bolton requested “copies of the formal recorded decision” to remove the flags, “including any and all minutes and transcripts of the relevant meetings”.

Notes on Now – When the Ideas of Modern Democracy Were Born

England is not famous for being the birthplace of modern representative democracy. For the good reason that it isn’t.
Anthony Barnett

Reform Uncovered: Kent County Council’s ‘Misleading’ DOLGE Report Based on Ex-Reform Chairman’s Tweets

The Reform UK-run council’s attempt to set out its priorities to make Elon Musk-style cuts has been deemed ‘a bit of a joke’. Max Colbert reports
Max Colbert