Reform Watch: Why did Lancashire's County Council leader miss Remembrance Day, and is Reform UK pro Russia?
Each week we cast over eyes over what Reform have been up to – from bizarre proclamations to the detail of how their attempts to run councils are going.
The Lead is keeping an eye on Reform UK and their fellow travellers. Get in touch on X, Bluesky and Instagram or email ella@thelead.uk with tips and stories. We especially want to hear from readers whose local council is now run by Farage’s followers. In today’s edition:
In Lancashire, the Reform UK council leader Stephen Atkinson, missed the county’s Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day events for a group trip paid for by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said he accepted the invitation to help him understand more about the conflict in Gaza and how that impacts on Lancashire residents. The trip has been declared on his register of gifts and hospitality for a value of £4,861.27. Opposition councillors said it was “disrespectful” for him to miss the Remembrance Day services. Read more on The Lancashire Lead.
Reform UK has acquired three new Tory defectors: Lia Nici, who served as Grimsby MP, former Bolton West Tory MP Chris Green and former Tory chairman Jonathan Gullis, who represented Stoke-on-Trent North. They’ve joined a growing list.
Lee Anderson, the Reform MP for Ashfield, complained that he and some of his colleagues had been displayed – in a Year 9 politics classroom – on a board next to the words “extreme right-wing”, “Nazism”, and “fascism”, and alongside pictures of Hitler and Mussolini. What’s that they say about ducks?
The UK’s top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish government ministers, has urged Nigel Farage to apologise to former classmates who claim he racially abused them while at school. Farage has been shifting his story on this, but he doesn’t look poised to apologise.
The Reform UK-led Durham council’s predicted budget deficit has grown by £11 million in two months. The council’s cabinet has now approved a £10 million list of proposed cuts for consultation, including the loss of 88 jobs at the council, a third of which are currently vacant, and an increase in parking charges in various locations across the country saving £565,000. Going well, then?
Finally, thanks to Nathan Gill’s Russian influence scandal, Britons are now more likely to see Reform UK as pro-Russia (28 per cent) than anti-Russia (13 per cent), according to a YouGov poll – though 42 per cent of Britons are unsure of the party’s position. This clashes with the opinion of the majority of Brits, who are generally anti-Russian. Reform voters, however, are divided between the 48 per cent who see themselves as such and the 43 per cent who say they are neutral on Russia.
🎁If you want to help The Lead a close eye on everything Reform are doing, and continue to produce original, nuanced, independent and progressive journalism, you can buy a gift subscription for Christmas to give the gift of The Lead to a friend, family member of colleague. There’s 20% off gift subscriptions for December and you can order right up to and including Christmas Day!