Latest news with #Reform-led
Sky News AU
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Left is ‘pearl-clutching' after UK council removes Ukrainian and Pride flags
Reform UK Councillor Darren Grimes discusses a Reform-led council removing the Pride and the Ukrainian flag. 'The left are absolutely pearl-clutching, shaken to the very floor,' Mr Grimes told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. 'Local councils need to get back to basics, focusing on things that matter, not international politics.'
Spectator
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Spectator
End of the rainbow, rising illiteracy & swimming pool etiquette
End of the rainbow: Pride's fall What 'started half a century ago as an afternoon's little march for lesbians and gay men', argues Gareth Roberts, became 'a jamboree not only of boring homosexuality' but 'anything else that its purveyors consider unconventional'. Yet now Reform-led councils are taking down Pride flags, Pride events are being cancelled due to lack of funds, and corporate sponsors are 'withdrawing their cold tootsies from the rainbow sock'. Has Pride suffered from conflation with 'genderism'? Gareth joined the podcast to discuss, alongside diversity consultant Simon Fanshawe, one of the six original co-founders of Stonewall. (0:59) Next: people are forgetting how to read Philip Womack 'can hear the rumblings of disaster, as if the foundations of western culture, eroded for decades, are teetering into collapse'. The reason? We are forgetting how to read. Today's children 'hardly read; their tech-blinded parents don't care; their teachers don't have the resources'. American students participating in a study requiring them to parse the first paragraph of Bleak House 'were unable to elicit a scintilla of sense' from Charles Dickens's prose. What or who is to blame? Philip joined the podcast to discuss. (23:29) And finally: the social minefield of swimming pool season Arabella Byrne writes in the magazine this week that while she has 'always loved English swimming pools', the arrival of the summer season always presents her 'with an annual etiquette conundrum'. If you're lucky enough to know one of the 200,000 Brits who have a private swimming pool, she asks: how acceptable is it – really – to ask to use a friend's pool? Arabella joined the podcast, alongside the Spectator's very own Dear Mary, Mary Killen. (32:46) Hosted by William Moore and Gus Carter. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
New Statesman
22-05-2025
- Business
- New Statesman
Labour has put the EU back on the agenda. Will the party regret it?
Photo byEver since Labour's landslide victory last summer, the party has discussed plans to reset Britain's relationship with the European Union. It seems the UK is condemned to be locked in a cycle of constant re-negotiation with the bloc – voters wanted out, but the economic logic of a closer union is too tempting. The hardest of all Brexits never really conferred the benefits its biggest champions suggested it might. As my colleague Rachel wrote on Tuesday, Kemi Badenoch's reaction to this run-of-the-mill trade negotiation was a bit histrionic: 'We've got to be a little bit more realistic and a lot less naive,' she told a press conference on Monday afternoon, flanked by Victoria Atkins and Priti Patel for emotional support, shortly after saying she was gobsmacked by Starmer's reset. She called him 'a failure of a Prime Minister' too. The Tory existential doom spiral continues to whirl. Meanwhile Labour is selling the deal as something that will deliver cheaper food and energy prices for British people. As it should: the party's re-election will hinge entirely on the cost of living. Pretty much everything else – save a completely unforeseen ruction – is window dressing. But hold on a minute. Labour is polling several points behind the Reform-led right at the moment. That is, the pro-Brexit right. Led by Brexiteer-in-chief Nigel Farage, no less. In fact, Farage said on Monday he would tear up the deal if he made it to Downing Street. On what planet would you trumpet the success of an ever-closer union at a time when your main opponent argues for the very opposite? This one, surprisingly. Here are the things you need to know about Brexit, the electorate and Labour's political calculations, in numbers. Brexit regret is real, but inflated Most Brits believe the vote to Leave in 2016 was the wrong decision. Though a caveat is important: until recently the number of Brexit 'Regretters' was probably inflated. Leave-leaning voters have been feeling pretty apathetic lately, disenchanted with the Conservatives after 14 years. People like this don't tend to be keen on commenting on political surveys, hence the slightly warped figures. Reform's rise has reversed that, and the numbers are steadying at a more reliable point. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Brexit salience is waning More than one in ten of those that voted in the EU referendum are now dead. And one in ten eligible voters today were not of age for the 2016 referendum. Young people are overwhelmingly for Remain (or rather, Rejoin) which we might expect to shift the needle and give Rejoin a default majority. This isn't quite the case – these young people are not quite as shaped by 2010 loyalties, the passing of time has numbed them and the EU question is just less relevant now. But this situation still makes it hard to whip up a sense of 'Leaver's grievance' that Brexit wasn't done right, as Farage is trying to do. All of this is laid out in the graph below. A have-three-cakes-and-eat-them approach was not the position I expected from Reform's disparate support base. But it speaks to the dulled feelings over Brexit, even among the most enthusiastic of Nigel Farage fans. What now? It is in Reform's blood to stamp its feet over this EU reset stuff. But Brexit wasn't what rallied its voters. The party, then, will continue what it's been doing already: focus on immigration, on boats, and on a perceived cost-of-living betrayal (winter fuel, for example, despite Starmer's hinted-at U-turn yesterday). As you can see above, when you poll these voters on what they want you'll find incoherence: they want closer relations, to keep things as they are, and to loosen ties. We can only assume that they like the sentiment of Brexit, but that we are all too far gone from the Brexit wars to care about specifics. Up to one tenth of the current Reform vote looks to be historic Remain voters, by the way. What Starmer's reset deal can do is rally the middle classes, who are not too stressed by the cost of living, and remind them of their pro-European bent. Labour could exploit this as a means to outpace the growing number of the Reform-curious middle class. Just because the EU is low salience now, it does not mean it won't be exploitable as a fault line in the future. Related
Spectator
14-05-2025
- Business
- Spectator
The City backlash against Reform has already begun
It will be like Liz Truss on roller skates. The next election may still be four years away, and the manifestos still need to be fleshed out. Even so, the City has already started issuing stark warnings of a run on the pound if there is a Reform government led by Nigel Farage as Prime Minister. Of course, it is a measure of how far the party has come that the City is taking it seriously. The trouble is, there is also an element of truth in it. Reform would face a huge backlash in the markets – and the party will have to be ready for it. Even a few weeks ago, City analysts would not have wasted their time trying to work out the impact of a Reform-led government.
Epoch Times
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Reform UK Faces Legal Barriers and National Constraints After Local Elections
Reform UK's dramatic breakthrough in the May 2025 local elections—securing control of 10 councils and winning a mayoralty in Lincolnshire—has thrown a spotlight on the party's plans to reshape local government. Reform leader Nigel Farage has framed the results as 'a truly historic landmark.' He pledged to 'slim down and refocus' Reform-led councils to cut waste and improve productivity. Councillors were told to drop diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training, reject climate initiatives, and expect audits of council spending. Farage warned staff working in climate, DEI, or remote roles to 'seek alternative careers.' But with gains in council leadership comes scrutiny of Reform's pledges, as well as legal and institutional roadblocks. What Can Councillors Actually Do? The reality is that councillors, though democratically elected, operate within a tightly constrained framework. They shape local policy, represent constituents, and help determine strategic direction. However, they do not manage staff, control day-to-day operations, or make unilateral decisions on employment. Related Stories 5/6/2025 5/2/2025 Personnel matters are handled by council officers, who are trained civil servants, politically neutral, and bound by employment law and statutory responsibilities. Any attempt by elected councillors to unilaterally sack DEI officers, end flexible working contracts, or strip climate initiatives would run against employment protections. UNISON, the UK's largest public service union, has already issued a warning to staff in Reform-led councils. 'No employer is above the law,' Her message echoes growing unease among local government employees, particularly following Farage's remarks in Durham and Mayor Andrea Jenkyns's statement about slimming down the Lincolnshire workforce, which is a remit technically outside her powers. Limits of Localism and Cash-Strapped Councils Local government in England and Wales operates under a framework set by central government. Key services like adult social care, education, and housing are subject to national legislation and budgetary limits. Farage has acknowledged these limitations, admitting that Reform does not have a 'magic wand' to resolve funding shortfalls or meet the growing demands of an ageing population. 'I understand all of those things but refocusing and higher productivity from those that work for council... in the future, in where we run councils, there is no more work from home,' Farage Years of austerity have left many With little fat left to cut in councils' budgets Reform stressed the need to 'reduce excessive expenditure,' which it said comes from initiatives like climate change. However, spending on DEI or climate adaptation is often tied to statutory duties. For instance, councils must meet equality requirements under the Equality Act 2010, and many environmental projects are linked to national targets on carbon reduction. On immigration, Reform has vowed to 'resist' asylum seekers being housed in the county council areas it controls, arguing that local taxpayers should not be left to shoulder the costs. Councils must legally accommodate asylum seekers where directed by the Home Office, with any effort to refuse likely to result in judicial review and sanctions. Nigel Farage, front left, with Reform UK Chairman Zia Yusuf, front right, unveiled 29 councillors who have defected to his party during a press conference on March 17, 2025. Lucy North/PA However, Reform Chairman Zia Yusuf said the party would use 'every instrument of power available' to challenge such placements. Speaking to the BBC about the use of hotels for asylum housing, he said, 'A lot of these hotels—there has been litigation around this already—a lot of these hotels, when you suddenly turn them into something else which is essentially a hostel that falls foul of any number of regulations, and that's what our teams of lawyers are exploring at the moment.' Yusuf acknowledged that local authorities have limited power compared to Westminster, but framed the policy as part of a broader political strategy. 'That's why this is part of a journey to making Nigel the prime minister with a Reform majority,' he said. Audits and Taskforces Reform has pledged to tackle what it calls 'wasteful spending' by launching taskforces to audit council budgets, cut taxes, fix potholes, and prioritise core services like bin collections. Speaking on May 2, Yusuf said the party would root out The call for stricter oversight comes amid growing concerns about the state of council finances. A The PAC also highlighted a deepening audit crisis. Just 10 percent of councils submitted reliable financial data for 2022–23, forcing the National Audit Office to decline to sign off on the Whole of Government Accounts for the first time ever. Although councils are already subject to audits, Freedom of Information requests, and oversight by the Local Government Ombudsman and central departments, Reform argues that existing checks are not working. The party claims that procurement processes are poorly managed and sometimes corrupt, with multi-million-pound contracts too often awarded without competition. A In response, Reform pledged to fix the potholes, collect waste bins, and cut taxes to address public needs on a local level.
