Reform UK mayor Luke Campbell under fire over £1m community fund website
In a video posted on his social media at the weekend, the mayor said: 'Exciting news. We have a £1 million community fund.
'This is a million pounds every year, for the next four years.
'I want to hand over the decision to the people of this region.
'Please tell me where you want to see this money being spent. It's all down to you.'
Writing on X, councillor Tom Astell said that, although the website lukeasksyou.com carries Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority branding, it is actually promoted by Reform UK.
🚨I am announcing a £1M Community Fund for Hull and East Yorkshire.
YOU will decide what and where the £1M is spent.
Click the link below to submit your proposal.
➡️ https://t.co/GIMnBWAKsW pic.twitter.com/Z4uzChrZ1Y
— Luke Campbell MBE (@luke11campbell) August 16, 2025
Mr Astell said: 'Your personal data goes to the party — not the Authority.'
The councillor said: 'And the £1m fund? It doesn't exist.
'It has never been through the Combined Authority Executive Board. No decision. No approval.
'It's not even clear if the Combined Authority actually has the ability or monies available for such a fund.'
Mr Astell said any spending of more than £250,000 has to be approved by the executive board as a 'key decision'.
He said: 'So residents are being invited to pitch ideas for a fund that hasn't been agreed — while handing their data to a political party.
'This is a serious breach of trust. Public branding. Party data collection. A non-existent fund. Residents deserve honesty.'
Luke Campbell (right) is one of two Reform UK metro mayors elected last year (Danny Lawson/PA).
Mr Astell, who represents a ward in town of Beverley on East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said he has written to the combined authority's interim chief executive Mark Rogers about his concerns.
He said: 'Public office is a public trust. Hull & East Yorkshire deserves honesty, not smoke and mirrors.'
Mr Campbell was elected in May 2024, becoming one of two Reform metro mayors, along with Dame Andrea Jenkyns in Greater Lincolnshire.
He won a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics before embarking on a successful pro boxing career.
The mayor's office has been approached for a comment.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
3 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Councils consider legal bids as ministers face Epping hotel ruling aftermath
The ruling blocks asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel in the Essex town, and current residents must be removed by September 12. On Wednesday, some Conservative and Reform UK-led authorities said they were looking at their options to take similar action. Conservative-run Broxbourne Council in Hertfordshire has said it was taking legal advice 'as a matter of urgency', while Tory-run East Lindsey District Council in Lincolnshire said officers are investigating and 'will take appropriate action'. Reform UK-led councils, West Northamptonshire Council and Staffordshire County Council, also said the authorities would look at the options available after the High Court ruling. When Robert Jenrick was immigration minister he grew the number of illegal migrants living in free hotels to 56,000. He is no friend of Epping. — Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) August 20, 2025 Ian Cooper, leader of Staffordshire County Council, said: 'The control and protection of our country's borders is a national issue, but the impact of central government policy is felt in communities across Staffordshire.' It comes as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has indicated that councils run by his party will consider their own legal challenges. However, a number of these councils do not have responsibility for planning permission, which may limit their ability to launch legal challenges. Epping Forest District Council had asked a judge to issue an interim injunction stopping migrants from being accommodated at the Bell Hotel after it had been at the centre of protests in recent weeks. The demonstrations came after an asylum seeker, who was staying there, was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Protests took place outside the hotel (Jordan Pettitt/PA) He denies the charge and is due to stand trial later this month. The Home Office had warned the judge that an injunction could 'interfere' with the department's legal obligations, and lawyers representing the hotel's owner argued it would set a 'precedent'. Reacting to the ruling on Wednesday, security minister Dan Jarvis told Times Radio: 'We're looking at a range of different contingency options following from a legal ruling that took place yesterday, and we'll look closely at what we're able to do.' Asked whether other migrant hotels have the proper planning permission, Mr Jarvis said: 'Well, we'll see over the next few days and weeks. 'Other local authorities will be considering whether they wish to act in the same way that Epping (Forest) District Council have. A STATEMENT FROM NIGEL FARAGE This is a victory for the parents and concerned residents of Epping. They do not want their young women being assaulted on the streets. This community stood up bravely, despite being slandered as far right, and have won. They represent the vast… — Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) August 19, 2025 'I think the important point to make is that nobody really thinks that hotels are a sustainable location to accommodate asylum seekers. 'That's precisely why the Government has made a commitment that, by the end of this Parliament, we would have phased out the use of them.' On Wednesday shadow home secretary Chris Philp also pressed ministers not to re-house the asylum seekers at the Bell Hotel into other hotels or flats 'sorely needed by young people'. In a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Mr Philp wrote: 'Up and down the country people are furious about the number of illegal migrants being housed in hotels – which rose in the nine months following the election under Labour. Following the ruling in Epping and the ongoing migrant crisis I have written to Yvette Cooper calling for: 1. An emergency cabinet meeting (they had one for recognising Palestine recently) to bring forward plans for the immediate deportation of all illegal immigrants upon… — Chris Philp MP (@CPhilpOfficial) August 20, 2025 'People are also concerned that you are now moving people from hotels into apartments and other accommodation which is sorely needed by young people here who are struggling under this Labour Government.' The Conservative MP also called for an emergency Cabinet meeting to set up plans to deport migrants crossing the Channel on arrival. Meanwhile Mr Farage has called for peaceful protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers to put pressure on local authorities to take the same route as Epping Forest. Writing in The Telegraph, he said: 'Now the good people of Epping must inspire similar protests around Britain. 'Wherever people are concerned about the threat posed by young undocumented males living in local hotels and who are free to walk their streets, they should follow the example of the town in Essex. 'Let's hold peaceful protests outside the migrant hotels, and put pressure on local councils to go to court to try and get the illegal immigrants out; we now know that together we can win.' Our work with international partners is vital to stopping small boat crossings to the UK. A joint intelligence unit involving the @NCA_UK and French counterparts has helped dismantle at least 52 organised immigration crime gangs operating in France. — Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) August 17, 2025 The latest Home Office data showed there were 32,345 asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of March. This was down 15% from the end of December, when the total was 38,079, and 6% lower than the 34,530 at the same point a year earlier. New figures – published among the usual quarterly immigration data release – are expected on Thursday, showing numbers in hotels at the end of June. Figures for hotels published by the Home Office date back to December 2022 and showed numbers hit a peak at the end of September 2023 when there were 56,042 asylum seekers in hotels.
Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Telegraph
Revealed: Starmer's EU fish surrender could cost up to £6bn
Sir Keir Starmer's Brexit reset deal risks handing the EU up to £6bn of British fish, official data suggest. Under the agreement struck by Labour in May, EU fishermen will get guaranteed access to UK waters for another 12 years, until 2038. The Telegraph can reveal that this could be worth up to £6bn to the EU in British fish, based on estimates provided to ministers before the deal was signed. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has said he will rip up the deal if he becomes prime minister. He told The Telegraph: 'It is truly astonishing that we have given away a huge sum of money. 'We've massively damaged our own industry, stopping future investment in return for absolutely nothing, and our coastal communities feel totally betrayed.' In February, three months before the agreement was struck, officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs provided ministers with an analysis of the 'economic benefits and concerns of re-negotiating fisheries policies with the EU'. The Telegraph has seen an extract of the memo, released under freedom of information laws, which states that the EU took between £400m and £500m of landings from UK waters in 2023. This suggests that, by extending EU access for another 12 years, Sir Keir has signed away up to £6bn worth of British fish. The Government rejected the estimate, insisting it did not make sense to project the figure from 2023 on to future years because of potential variations in quotas and market prices. While Sir Keir guaranteed the EU access to British waters until 2038, the UK retains the right to negotiate the amount of fish that Brussels can land each year. That means it is not possible to predict exactly how much EU fishermen will take from UK waters on an annual basis, making the £6bn figure a rough projection. However, Mike Cohen, the chief executive officer of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations, described it as a 'fair and realistic' estimate. He told The Telegraph: 'The EU has consistently taken around £500m of fish from UK waters annually for a number of years now. 'There is no realistic prospect of renegotiating quota shares, because the only bargaining chip the UK had to negotiate with was access to our waters and the Government has given that away. 'In reality, the only way that the EU will take less value than that is if the fish stocks shrink and quotas are reduced for everyone. £6bn over 12 years is a fair and realistic estimate in my opinion.' The memo seen by The Telegraph, sent to Steve Reed, the Environment Secretary, and Daniel Zeichner, the food security minister, stated that the ability to fish in UK waters was 'hugely significant' for the EU fleet. It added: 'We know around 1,500 EU vessels have licenses to fish in the UK EEZ as of January 2025, and that about 17 per cent of the EU's total landings volume and 7-9 per cent (£400m-£500m) of their total landings value comes from UK waters (2023).' The document also reveals that ministers were told Britain could benefit from reducing EU access to UK waters, albeit only by a 'small' amount. It stated: 'There will possibly be small positive impacts to the UK if access to UK waters was reduced for EU vessels, notably the 6-12nm zone... 'Fishers could be more profitable if a reduction in competition means reduced cost/effort to catch their fish. For UK fishers in the area, this is [a] clear deliverable, and they will likely feel they are better based on [a] combination of economic and socio-political factors.' Mr Cohen said he would be 'fascinated to know' who came up with the suggestion that reducing EU access would only provide a 'small' benefit to the UK, describing it as 'poor advice'. He added: 'It is certainly not our view. If EU boats were excluded, we would have significantly more freedom to manage the fish resources in our waters, to ensure their long term sustainability. 'It would also mean that there was far more room for UK boats to work in: something that will become an increasing problem with the government's plans for enormous expansions of offshore wind farms and marine protected areas. 'This would have benefited our smaller inshore fleet most of all: the sector that has the best potential for sustainable growth.' Coastal communities 'betrayed' Downing Street has said the fishing deal will add £9bn to the economy by 2040 by linking the UK more closely to the EU's food, veterinary and energy markets. But critics described it as a betrayal of Britain's coastal communities, who were promised that Labour would take back control of UK waters from Brussels as part of Brexit. Sir John Redwood, the former Tory environment minister, said: 'This needless giveaway of our fish will cost us more than just the lost £6bn of fish sales over 12 years. There are all the lost jobs in fishing, supporting fishing boats and food processing as well as the lost tax revenues.' A government spokesman said: 'This is a made up figure and not based on any policy that we have with the EU, or would have had under the previous deal. 'Under the previous Brexit deal, EU boats were provided de facto guarantees to UK waters beyond 2026. 'The deal we have secured means we can continue to decide and agree annually the amount EU vessels can catch in our waters, and gives UK fishing communities long-term certainty and stability.' Government sources said it was not possible to forecast the value of EU catches in UK waters for 2026–2038, as this depends on annual quota negotiations, catches of non-quota species and market prices.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Northamptonshire council mulls over asylum hotel verdict
A Reform UK-run council has said it is "actively looking at the options" after the High Court decided asylum seekers should be evicted from a hotel.A judge imposed a temporary injunction blocking migrants from being housed at The Bell Hotel in Epping, are three hotels being used for asylum seekers in West Northamptonshire."We are currently considering the implications of this judgment to understand any similarities and differences and actively looking at the options now available to us," said council leader Mark Arnull. "We have always been clear with the government and the public that the current use of three hotels in west Northamptonshire have never been suitable locations for asylum accommodation and place an unreasonable and unsustainable strain on our already-stretched local services."Arnull said the hotels caused "concerns for our communities" and he had raised "these issues" with the Home Office and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner. Earlier this year, Conservative MP for Daventry Stuart Andrew - who is also shadow culture secretary - said he shared the "anger" of constituents over the use of a hotel in his Tuesday's High Court decision, Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said the party would pursue similar cases over hotels across all the 10 council areas it to BBC Radio Northampton earlier, independent west Northamptonshire councillor Ian McCord said he had been "unhappy" for a "number of years" about one local hotel being used for asylum said it was an unsuitable location for migrants."In my view, people go to a hotel for a temporary stay, and frankly, this is their permanent address now."Border Security Minister Angela Eagle pointed out that the number of hotels being used for migrants had halved, from more than 400 in 2023."We will continue working with local authorities and communities to address legitimate concerns," she said."Our work continues to close all asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament."We will carefully consider this judgement."Imram Hussain from the Refugee Council has said migrants should be placed in "dispersal accommodation around the country" as an alternative to hotels. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
