Notes from the North: Cat Smith banned from charity talk by Reform council, the far-right in Blackpool
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It’s been an odd few weeks in Lancashire. The Lancashire Lead has covered how the county has, for the most part, avoided the scandals have taken in Reform-led councils in places Kent.
But in recent months they’ve had a councillor suspended for his role in a horribly far-right Whatsapp group, raising council tax despite vowing not to and u-turned on plans to close care homes – with the very Trumpian strategy of later claiming they were never going to close at all.
Now Lancashire County Council has stepped in to prevent Cat Smith, a Labour MP in Lancashire, from speaking to children at a charity event. Strong work from the party of free speech.
In Blackpool, the far-right descended to protest against illegal immigration and small boats at a hotel site occupied by families legally waiting for their asylum claim to be processed who almost exclusively did not arrive by boat.
And Leigh gives the latest in the long-running Teesworks saga.
Each Wednesday and Sunday our award-winning editions of The Lead North are published, as we go beyond the headlines to provide vital rigorous independent local journalism in towns and regions in the North of England.
Begun in early 2024, the Lead North publishes in Blackpool, Lancashire, Calderdale, Teesside and Southport. Each week our senior editor for The Lead North, Luke Beardsworth, highlight some of the stories we’ve been breaking exclusively, covering extensively and staying the course on to ensure communities have access to verified independent journalism. If you have any stories you think we should be covering, or tip-offs, you can contact luke@thelead.uk
Cat Smith banned from speaking about Fairtrade at Lancashire County Council-hosted event
A Lancashire MP was effectively banned from talking to children about Fairtrade by the Reform UK-led Lancashire County Council.
Cat Smith, Labour MP for Lancaster and Wyre, was set to speak at the Lancashire Fairtrade Schools Conference on 10 February at County Hall – something she has done on a number of occasions before.
The Lancashire Lead understands that, despite political friction between Labour and Reform UK, she was genuinely shocked that the decision had been taken.
When approached by The Lancashire Lead in the first instance, Lancashire County Council declined to comment, saying they were not involved in the decision and said it was a matter for Fairtrade Lancashire.
When we showed them evidence that the MP had been informed Lancashire County Council had made the decision, they shifted approach.
Families and teenagers stand up to anti-immigration protestors in Blackpool
Anti-immigration protesters from across the country yesterday descended on Blackpool – where families and teenagers made it clear they do not agree with their political views.
The local defiance came as hundreds of people gathered outside the Metropole hotel and marched through the town centre to chant slogans including “stop the boats”, “Keir Starmer is a wanker” and “save our nation, remigration”.
Opposite the Tower, four teenagers holding placards reading “hate yachts, not dinghies”, “money is the root of all evil” and “no Nazis, racism won’t be tolerated” sat on a low wall in defiant silence as protesters yelled questions and aimed camera lenses at them.
BP cancelled hydrogen scheme after refusing to pay Teesworks additional remediation charges
The majority of Teesworks Ltd was handed to private partners for free on the promise they would take on remediation of the site themselves, but The Teesside Lead can reveal the company was receiving money from BP to advance plans for two hydrogen schemes which were ultimately cancelled.
An email from a senior manager of the H2Teesside project at BP to a contact at Teesworks, sent on 18 February 2025, says: “Martin Corney called me last night… can you shed any light on this one?”.
It appears the call was a demand from Teesworks Ltd for more money than had been agreed.
The email continues by saying BP is “keen to progress” an application with the Environment Agency that would involve re-using waste material from the contaminated site of the former steelworks in the remediation, and that the company wanted to “understand possible remediation acceleration levers”.
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