Reform UK equality plans 'worrying', Lib Dem says
Reform UK's suggestion it will cut local government spending in places it controls has been criticised by a council's Liberal Democrat leader.
Speaking on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Reform UK's chairman Zia Yusuf said his party would "cut waste" across all 10 councils where the party forms a majority and would target spending on diversity and inclusion initiatives.
But Cambridgeshire County Council leader Lucy Nethsingha told the BBC's Politics East there was "no fat to trim" in local authorities.
She said the council valued its diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) staff and she found Reform UK's "attack" on such positions "really worrying".
Cambridgeshire County Council is under the control of the Liberal Democrats after the party won 31 of the 61 seats in the local elections on Thursday.
Reform UK, which previously had no councillors represented on the authority, gained 10 seats.
Yusuf claimed places like Lincolnshire County Council, which Reform won control of from the Conservatives, spent "considerable money on DEI initiatives".
He said Reform UK would "send teams in, task forces" and that "we're now going to have access to the contracts and we're going to make these changes".
Nethsingha said: "It will be very interesting to see what happens now that they're running those councils.
"They've come in saying they're going to cut a lot of waste but having been leading Cambridgeshire County Council for the last four years, I know there is not a lot of waste.
"There is no fat to trim on local government."
She said retaining hard-working staff was key to running a council well.
"Their (Reform's) attack on DEI staff, I find really worrying," Nethsingha said.
"I know that our DEI staff spend a lot of time trying to keep good members of staff in work when they get disabilities, when they struggle with injuries – that's one of the things that those staff do – they keep our permanent staff in their jobs, doing well, and it's going to be fascinating to see what happens in these reform councils."
Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Reform considers legal challenges against asylum hotels
Liberal Democrats take control of county council
Cambridgeshire County Council
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Some SUSD parents concerned over curriculum; district responds to claims
The Brief The Scottsdale Unified School District is defending itself against claims that it's providing a "one-sided" curriculum. Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne held a news conference on June 11, saying he would report the district to the federal government for adopting a "DEI-oriented textbook." SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Arizona's top school official is threatening to report Scottsdale to the federal government, claiming the district has adopted a "DEI-oriented textbook" and curriculum. What they're saying All the speakers at a June 11 press conference, and state superintendent Tom Horne, admitted that they did not read the textbooks they were critiquing in their entirety, just excerpts. Still, they call the text "indoctrination" – something the district vehemently denies. "I will report to the federal government that the Scottsdale school district has violated the statement that they signed that they would not teach DEI," Horne said. He's talking about a social studies curriculum. "A very one-sided, propagandist statement without giving again, different points of view," Horne claimed. Speakers pointed to several issues they felt textbook publisher Savvas presented unfairly or in a biased manner, including the pandemic, climate change and policing. "At a time when law enforcement agencies are expanding their focus and training on things like community outreach and de-escalation of conflicts, it is counterproductive for schools to push a politically misguided agenda that would make students suspicious and fearful," said Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan. SUSD parent, Karen Martinson, who says she has a child who is a junior in high school, also shared concerns about how religion is discussed in a separate textbook with a separate publisher. "When I read this, I was actually in shock. 'But the historical accuracy of the stories in the bible is questionable.' This is under the heading of the origins of Judaism," she said about a section in the textbook. The other side Several parents were in support of the curriculum at a May 13 meeting. "Is it messy? Yes. Is it uncomfortable? Yes. You may not like the fact that George Floyd is brought up, but Derek Chauvin is spending time for murder. If you have a problem with that, and think it's anti-police, I don't know what to tell you," a parent said. Another parent said, "Our students deserve a quality curriculum that includes the rich, essential facts and the reality of our true history and avoids future embarrassment of our children when they find out that they are uneducated." SUSD, Savvas respond SUSD released a statement, defending itself against the claims. "We reject the baseless accusations made during today's press conference by State Superintendent Tom Horne. His claims of indoctrination and a so-called 'leftist curriculum being imposed' on students are simply untrue and unsupported by fact. Curriculum decisions in SUSD are made through a transparent, collaborative, and non-partisan process, guided by a curriculum adoption committee and aligned with Arizona state standards, standards for which Mr. Horne and the State Board are ultimately responsible. Our duly elected, non-partisan Governing Board, approved the social studies curriculum following months of review and community input. To single out SUSD while other districts, including Peoria Unified and charter schools like Legacy and American Leadership Academy adopted the same curriculum materials is disingenuous and politically motivated. SUSD remains committed to providing world-class, future-focused education. Our mission is to cultivate critical thinking, not to promote any ideology. This type of inflammatory rhetoric distracts from the real issues facing Arizona schools, most notably, the need to raise student achievement in math, science, reading, and writing. That is where our focus lies heading into the 2025-26 school year." SUSD also says other districts like Peoria and charter schools, like Legacy and ALA, also use the same curriculum. Savvas released a statement, saying, in full, "We uphold the strictest editorial standards and take pride in developing the highest-quality K-12 instructional materials so that all students have access to rigorous, research-based, standards-aligned curriculum. The development process for all of our instructional materials, including our social studies programs, is rigorously designed to include the input of authors who are experts in their discipline, external content-area experts, academics, teacher reviewers, and third-party fact-checkers to ensure accuracy. Great care is taken to ensure that all of our social studies programs present balanced, unbiased, accurate, and fact-based content. We are proud of our social studies curriculum and fully stand by our high-quality instructional materials that challenge, engage, and inspire students to learn."
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Iowa Board of Regents hears opposition to proposed DEI policy from students, state officials
The Iowa Board of Regents read for the first time a policy that would bar required university courses with "substantial" DEI content. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Members of the Iowa Board of Regents told the public Wednesday they are listening and slowing down the process of implementing new board policy relating to diversity, equity and inclusion in classroom instruction. Regents said whatever policy is eventually approved might look different than its current form. Regent David Barker said a proposed policy barring universities from requiring students to take courses with 'substantial content that conveys DEI or CRT (critical race theory)' to earn their credentials, with pathways to certain course exceptions, 'will be an important first step' in preventing the teaching of controversial ideas as fact and raising confidence in higher education once again. The board discussed the policy in its June 11 meeting, the first of two readings ahead of a vote for approval in July. Under the proposed policy, students could not be required to take courses with 'substantial content' covering areas 'as primary principals' that include topics like antiracism, allyship, microaggressions, types of biases or privileges, social justice, critical race theory and systematic oppression, marginalization or gender theory, among others. Mark Braun, executive director of the board of regents, acknowledged during discussion the vagueness behind the term 'substantial,' but said board staff will work with the institutions to more clearly define it and demonstrate where it should apply as the policy is implemented. He emphasized that this policy would only apply to required courses and not electives. 'To a large extent, this will help highlight just how many academic programs do not require courses that meet the substantial standard,' Braun said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Also included in the policy is an option for seeking exemption, Braun said, as the board understands some courses must include this content for different reasons. According to the policy draft, universities can submit which majors, minors and certificates should be exempted from the rules 'each even-numbered year, no later than June 30.' The board must approve these requests. Regent Christine Hensley and Barker said during the meeting they learned from the emails sent after the suggested policy was released by concerned parties, some of which Barker said were 'a bit on the arrogant and pompous side' or 'showed a misunderstanding of the policy.' However, what helpful information he said he received helped him determine that a better version of this first-draft policy could be developed. Reynolds vetoes $1.5 million for UNI tuition program The goal behind the policy is not to subdue a certain point of view, Barker said, but to prevent attempts on both sides of the political spectrum to present 'contested, controversial ideas as settled fact.' When the policy was first released, Hensley said the discussion this week was supposed to act as the first and second reading, which she said 'lit a firestorm' in many people worried about the policy heading too quickly toward approval. 'I am a very, very strong proponent of when you have something that is controversial, and I would say that this has been controversial, it's important that you take a pause — you push the pause button — you step back, and you take in information from the various groups out there,' Hensley said. Critics of the proposed policy have done more than send emails to board members — some took to public comment Wednesday to express their concerns. Groups and individuals at the institutional and state level have called the revisions classroom censorship and a violation of the law. While many of the students, faculty and citizens who spoke during public comment thanked the board for pushing the vote back, the consensus remained that the policy would harm campuses and their communities while claiming to protect student rights. After the University of Northern Iowa faculty union published a statement opposing the policy last week, United Faculty President Christopher Martin took to public comment Wednesday to explain the three truths he sees about the proposal — first, that it was crafted from out-of-state recommendations instead of in response to major problems in Iowa, second, its implementation will act as censorship by the government, and third, it is against the law. 'There is no middle position, no position of slight appeasement,' Martin said. 'Either you stand for free expression at Iowa's universities or you don't, and God help Iowa, its public universities and all the citizens of this state if you don't.' Ashley Maempa, a doctoral student studying history at the University of Iowa, said she was 'deeply concerned' with both this policy, which she said was an example of over-compliance with the law, and other legislation impacting her institution and other state universities. While the claim behind making these decisions has been that they are protecting students, Maempa said the policy would empower 'a politically appointed government body to make a political decision about what concepts are merely opinions and what has legitimate scholarly basis.' The people who should be deciding what is taught in classes should be the people who are trained to do so, she said, rather than the board, whose members do not have as much experience in these matters. 'We are not political mouthpieces for whoever is in power,' Maempa said. 'We are scholars, we are teachers, we are students. We ask that you vote no on this proposed policy in July, and we ask that you do your job and take a stand for academic freedom in our Legislature.' State Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, released a memorandum ahead of the meeting going over past legislation and current Iowa Code relating to the duties of the board and education policy in Iowa, and concluded that the board has no statutory authority to limit academic instruction in this manner and would violate Iowa law by implementing the policy. 'No recent legislation has given the Board of Regents any authority over course content regarding diversity and race or sex discrimination,' Quirmbach said in a press release. 'Moreover, existing Iowa law contains strong protections guarding the academic freedom of both faculty and students, protections that the Board's proposed changes would violate.' With the start date a year away, Quirmbach said in the memorandum there shouldn't be any hurry to finalize it before campus community members have the time to fully review it, let alone form and share an opinion on what impacts they foresee. He suggested pushing the vote back to the fall to provide more time to campus constituents wishing to respond, and to the board in order to look more into the 'possible legal and constitutional vulnerabilities and the risk of legal action against the Board.' Regent Robert Cramer said during the meeting he'd like to hear from university faculty about what language they think would be best used to stop the indoctrination of students in the classroom while still ensuring they have the freedom to teach. Hensley agreed that it was right to push the vote back, and with another reading planned before vote, Hensley said it would be all right if it doesn't feel like the policy is ready for prime time even after seeing edits. 'This isn't going into effect until next year, so we've got time to get this dealt with and dealt with correctly, and I think that should be our number one priority,' Hensley said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump appointee vows to focus DOJ's largest division on DEI, denaturalization
FIRST ON FOX: The newly confirmed head of the Department of Justice's Civil Division sent out a memo hours after being sworn in on Wednesday in which he directed staff to prioritize investigations and bring legal action that involved a slate of conservative priorities, including rooting out antisemitism and diversity, equity and inclusion. Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate's internal memo, first obtained by Fox News Digital, also directed attorneys in the DOJ's largest division to focus on tightening restrictions on transgender medical care and denaturalizing citizens who "illegally procured" naturalization. The memo outlined what areas the Civil Division's lawsuits would center on, bringing proactive litigation to the fore in a division that is otherwise largely focused on defense. The primary task of the division is defending the government in court in non-criminal matters. These include the hundreds of lawsuits President Donald Trump and his administration have been hit with as Trump carries out executive actions that test the limits of presidential authority. Trump Orders Attorney General To Investigate Biden's Autopen Use Civil Division attorneys from the Federal Programs Bench have been fighting court battles with mixed success on behalf of Trump related to his sweeping tariffs, birthright citizenship, activities by the Department of Government Efficiency, and, most recently, his use of the National Guard in California. Read On The Fox News App Shumate was confirmed by the Senate on Monday along party lines. The Civil Division head was seen during the confirmation process as a Trump loyalist. He previously worked as a partner at Jones Day, a Washington-based firm that has represented Trump during his campaigns. Shumate was a top official in the Civil Division for two years during the first Trump administration. Shumate's memo indicated that he wanted to kick off his first day in office by setting a tone for the division's wealth of attorneys that aligned with Trump's and Attorney General Pam Bondi's agendas. In an unusual move, the division will also coordinate with the Civil Rights Division on its anti-DEI efforts by bringing False Claims Act cases related to discrimination, Shumate noted in the memo. Trump has frequently described DEI as discriminatory. "Consistent with these directives, the Civil Division will use all available resources to pursue affirmative litigation combatting unlawful discriminatory practices in the private sector," Shumate article source: Trump appointee vows to focus DOJ's largest division on DEI, denaturalization
