NotSpaghetti
...of course it may not be true?
It’s true. It’s been done
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgj0y8nev7o
Gransnet forums
News & politics
Reform, their policies and local government
(231 Posts)An explainer of some policies that Reform will try to implement, often, it appears breaking the law.
1. Net zero
Major solar and wind energy projects face threats from Reform-controlled councils whose members are instinctively hostile to net zero policies.
“We will attack, we will hinder, we will delay, we will obstruct, we will put every hurdle in your way,” said the party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, of such projects.
A solar farm in Romney Marsh, Kent, which could power 20% of homes in the county, is in the crosshairs of party, which controls the council. In Staffordshire, a proposed windfarm in the county’s moorlands area and a solar farm in Cheadle will be opposed.
But Reform’s plans will also meet hostility from within communities. In Greater Lincolnshire alone, net zero industries contribute about £980m to the local economy, accounting for 12,209 jobs, according to analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).
Legally, the picture is also unclear. Reform could try to block pylons and large solar farms through the judicial review process, though the new planning and infrastructure bill aims to make the challenges harder.
2. Send provision
Farage’s unsubstantiated claims that doctors are “massively over-diagnosing” children with mental illness and special educational needs has sparked fears that Reform UK councils could further restrict or make dramatic cuts to special educational needs and disabilities provision (Send).
The 10 councils where Reform have overall control are projected to have a combined deficit by March next year of £489m. It is as much as £95m in the case of Kent and £71m in Derbyshire.
Reform councils could call for changes to the law to reduce access to education, health and care plans, which are much sought after by families of some children after years of state underinvestment in education.
However, any moves to push for cuts or reshaping of policy also potentially risks sparking a backlash from both its own voters and splits within the party. Andrea Jenkyns, the mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, has spoken about her son having ADHD and appeared to contradict Farage. James McMurdock, a Reform MP in Essex, also cast himself as a champion of parents struggling to get Send support for children.
Reform councils who unlawfully try to restrict access to Send support will face the prospect of being challenged at tribunals by families.
3. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies
In an echo of the axe taken by the Trump administration in the US, Farage has already warned: “If you are working in DEI or climate change then perhaps alternative employment is where you should be looking.”
The party’s hostility to “gender ideology” could have repercussions for councils working with charities such as Positive Health, which runs sexual health promotion, education and HIV training for Lincolnshire.
Any savings from cuts to supposed DEI-related schemes are likely to be minimal. Derbyshire and Lincolnshire have each pointed out they don’t have DEI schemes.
4. Immigration
Farage has said that Reform-controlled councils will “resist” accepting any more asylum seekers, pitting then on a potential collision course with Westminster.
Zia Yusuf, the party’s chair, has also said its legal team is examining planning law mechanisms to challenge the use of hotels for asylum accommodation.
The moves would have consequences in places such as Kent, where the county council has been at the forefront of handling provision for unaccompanied minors.
But again the law would not be on the side of councils. The responsibility falls to the Home Office, which selects the hotels and contractors for the scheme.
5. Heritage and culture
Reform has said only the St George and union flag will be flown at council property, although it backtracked when it came to the question of county flags.
The policy appeared to be aimed at the flying of rainbow flags in solidarity with LGBT+ people and to celebrate Pride. It would also spell the end of councils flying Ukrainian flags, serving as a reminder that Farage has frequently been accused by Labour of “fawning” over Vladimir Putin.
Other potential culture wars could arise over council funding of museums or galleries with exhibitions that are deemed to denigrate Britain’s history or the empire.
6. Transport
Opposition to 15-minute cities – an urban planning concept that has become a lightning rod for conspiracy theorists – and support for “pro-motorist” policies have long been red meat to Reform.
Farage lashed out in the local election campaign at “cycle lanes that no one uses” while Reform’s likely leader of Worcestershire county council, Alan Amos, claimed: “All the other parties have bent over backwards to please a small minority.”
At the same time, Amos was eager to emphasise that Reform was eager to support bus travel, a hot issue in a number of counties where Reform’s voter base has tended to be older.
When it comes to cycling, existing policies at many councils are already advanced while there is strong public support for cycling schemes.
Guardian today.
Thank you for that, NotSpaghetti, my feathers were a little ruffled!
So, David, are you saying, let's just continue on this path, or..?
sundowngirl
Didn’t Gordon Brown sell off our gold??
His mistake wasn't selling off the gold, which released money for the economy, but selling before it went up in price.
Chocolatelovinggran no, not at all but I do know there is a lot of misinformation out there and stirring on every side.
A briefing isn't at all the same as say, Facebook. It's so sad though that it has come to this.
Didn’t Gordon Brown sell off our gold??
Chocolatelovinggran
I have posted before about this, but it seems that the Reform group in Kent ( where I live) is planning to sell off a number of art works kept in County Hall, some of which were donations.
When I taught in a more enlightened LA, they loaned their art to be displayed in public buildings and schools, then returned and rotated.
If this goes ahead, I see it as selling the family silver - without the family being consulted.
We sold off most of the family silver 50yrs ago, since then most of the companies to foreigners and the right to sell us our own water and electrictity for decades into the future.
Just so we can have jam today.
I have read it in briefings, NotSpaghetti.
Is it your understanding that this may not happen, or that I am untruthful?
...of course it may not be true?
That is rather sad Chocolatelovinggran - it gives those children who never go to an art gallery the opportunity to see (and discuss) art.
I have posted before about this, but it seems that the Reform group in Kent ( where I live) is planning to sell off a number of art works kept in County Hall, some of which were donations.
When I taught in a more enlightened LA, they loaned their art to be displayed in public buildings and schools, then returned and rotated.
If this goes ahead, I see it as selling the family silver - without the family being consulted.
Well, Not Spaghetti, thank you. That did make me laugh!
sundowngirl
LizzieDrip
nanna8
Maybe, maybe not. You don’t find him unlikeable and that is good. Others disagree. In fact everyone over here, even real hardline Labour people , think he is dreadful. We see things differently from afar.
Wow, nanna, “everyone” in Australia thinks Keir Starmer is dreadful? What an extraordinary claim!
Clearly you don’t like him - you’ve made that abundantly clear. At times you even appear to despise him, though I don’t know why? I love to know your reasons.
Anyway, that’s up to you. From my perspective here in the UK, Keir Starmer is not in the slightest ‘unlikeable’.I think you will find that Keir Starmer is very 'unlikable' as judged by the Yougov poll from May. I quote -
"Keir Starmer falls to lowest net favourability rating on record"
"with the proportion of Britons with an unfavourable opinion of the Labour leader rising from 62% in mid-April to 69% today, Starmer’s net favourability rating has sunk to -46, his lowest ever recorded by YouGov"
Even though Keir Starmer is deemed ‘unlikeable’ though sundowngirl, he still tops the YouGov poll for ‘Who do you think makes the best Prime Minister’. That says that people recognise that he is a better choice to lead the UK than any of the other party leaders. It’s always important to give a balanced picture, don’t you think?
yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/52729-who-would-be-the-best-prime-minister-august-2025
When some people have an opinion on a non existent politician, it does make one wonder how accurate any poll can be.
Do most people give their opinions based on logic and facts or just on feelings?
LizzieDrip
nanna8
Maybe, maybe not. You don’t find him unlikeable and that is good. Others disagree. In fact everyone over here, even real hardline Labour people , think he is dreadful. We see things differently from afar.
Wow, nanna, “everyone” in Australia thinks Keir Starmer is dreadful? What an extraordinary claim!
Clearly you don’t like him - you’ve made that abundantly clear. At times you even appear to despise him, though I don’t know why? I love to know your reasons.
Anyway, that’s up to you. From my perspective here in the UK, Keir Starmer is not in the slightest ‘unlikeable’.
I think you will find that Keir Starmer is very 'unlikable' as judged by the Yougov poll from May. I quote -
"Keir Starmer falls to lowest net favourability rating on record"
"with the proportion of Britons with an unfavourable opinion of the Labour leader rising from 62% in mid-April to 69% today, Starmer’s net favourability rating has sunk to -46, his lowest ever recorded by YouGov"
NotSpaghetti
Came upon this today and it reminded me of this thread...
www.facebook.com/share/v/176KPHpgYE/
Very clever..
Came upon this today and it reminded me of this thread...
www.facebook.com/share/v/176KPHpgYE/
A couple or weeks in, and Reform councillors falling at the first hurdle- surely not? We were assured that the vetting procedures were extremely robust...and they've not started work yet.
Allira
One down:
www.itv.com/news/central/2025-05-15/reform-uk-councillor-quits-after-social-media-post
Wayne Titley, who was elected as Reform Councillor in Staffordshire, said "Why they don't position the navy so as the big boats leave the shoreline they intercept them and thunder them back using a volley of gun fire aimed at sinking them."
Apparently he has resigned after protests.
He knows absolutely nothing about maritime law and our Royal Navy.
I won't post the word DH used about that suggestion.
Casdon
He’s the second in a week, this one I found really odd - surely every council employee knows that they have to tell their employer if they are standing for election?
www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/governance/396-governance-news/60880-reform-councillor-resigns-after-failing-to-declare-council-employment
What a complete waste of money besides anything else!
Numpties.
He’s the second in a week, this one I found really odd - surely every council employee knows that they have to tell their employer if they are standing for election?
www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/governance/396-governance-news/60880-reform-councillor-resigns-after-failing-to-declare-council-employment
One down:
www.itv.com/news/central/2025-05-15/reform-uk-councillor-quits-after-social-media-post
Wayne Titley, who was elected as Reform Councillor in Staffordshire, said "Why they don't position the navy so as the big boats leave the shoreline they intercept them and thunder them back using a volley of gun fire aimed at sinking them."
Apparently he has resigned after protests.
Yes at the top finance jobs are highly paid but look at banks most have closed everything is automated there are far less jobs and AI is going to make that worse.
Most interaction is done with a call centre with low paid operators following a set routine on a computer screen
The economic theory that a service economy would be the salvation for the UK has failed because service wages are low,
I think you are misunderstanding the term ‘services’ in the context of this theory. It means financial services, insurance, banking and the like. The big money earners for the financial services industries and therefore very significant contributors to the UK GDP figure.
I never knew what the rest of the workforce was meant to do for a living, apart from taking poorly paid work servicing the needs of those supposed wealth creators. Completely different meaning of ‘services’ looked at in this context of course..
“The USA followed much the same sort of path and, although its decline hasn't been as bad as the UK's it has followed much the same trajectory. Wealth has flowed back upwards, whereas prior to the 80's it was becoming more equably distributed and the destruction of industries, supplanted by the availability of cheaper foreign made products has left significant numbers of people in insecure jobs, or with no job at all.”
The US still has a massive manufacturing capacity but has been spending far too much on overseas projects and wars while importing cheap goods from Asia.
The economic theory that a service economy would be the salvation for the UK has failed because service wages are low, in addition the headlong rush to net zero has handicapped us further because our competitors still use fossil fuels to produce the goods we import.
Blair did nothing to change Thatchers policies but increased welfare spending, deregulated banks and contributed to the 2008 crash. We simply havn’t recovered from that, Cameron’s lack of investment and so called austerity now seems pretty tame compared to what we face today.
The Johnson & co era is best forgotten, the challenges we face now are great, Starmer will need all the luck he can find to achieve an improvement
Unusual that a person of that age would support Reform. The youngsters in my family are all raging lefties and greenies without exception. As I was, then.
Join the conversation
Registering is free, easy, and means you can join the discussion, watch threads and lots more.
Register now »Already registered? Log in with:
Gransnet »