
Reform council told to reconsider 'grey areas' in flag policy
Under the rules previously approved by the cabinet, the Union flag and the county council's own flag would fly permanently on two of the three flagpoles outside County Hall, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said. The St George's flag would fly from the third pole, unless it was replaced with the Lord Lieutenant's flag when they were in the building.A fourth flagpole in County Hall's quadrangle could be used to mark events such as Armed Forces Day, Commonwealth Day and Armistice Day, the LDRS added. Decisions on flying all other flags would be delegated to council chief executive John Sinnott after discussion with council leader Dan Harrison, under the policy.
In a meeting on Tuesday, chair of the scrutiny commission, Conservative councillor Deborah Taylor, said the agreed protocol gives "much too grey an area" and should specify which flags will be flown on the fourth pole in the quadrangle."It needs to be really, really clear, so there are no grey areas," Taylor added. Taylor said decisions in relation to requests to fly other flags should only be delegated to the leader and chief executive in "in exceptional circumstances". At the meeting, deputy leader of the Reform group, Joseph Boam, said the Union flag is the "most inclusive flag".Boam added: "We are inclusive, which is why we will fly the Union flag, which represents everyone in this county and country regardless of sexuality, gender or race. I feel it's that simple."The decision has come after 102 social workers at the council signed a letter to the new Reform UK cabinet stating they felt flying community flags was a "vitally-important" symbol from the council that it was "supportive of marginalised groups".The letter continued: "Removing these flags promotes exclusion and marginalisation – it implies people represented by those flags are not welcome.Boam told the scrutiny commission he "had not had the chance" to meet with social workers to discuss the flag policy following the letter.He added: "I will make the effort to reach out after this."
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The Guardian
22 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ian Hislop calls arrest of man holding Private Eye cartoon at Gaza protest ‘mind-boggling'
The terror arrest of a man for holding up a Private Eye cartoon during a protest at the weekend was 'mind-boggling', the magazine's editor, Ian Hislop, has said, as the retired teacher called for an apology from police. Jon Farley was picked up by police at a silent demonstration in Leeds on Saturday, which he described as a 'pretty terrifying and upsetting experience', for holding a sign that made a joke about the government's proscription of the group Palestine Action from the last issue of the fortnightly satirical magazine. '[Police officers] picked me up, grabbed me, and took me to the side, and I ended up sitting on the pavement,' the 67-year-old said. 'I think that's when they said something about the placard. And I said: 'Well it's a cartoon from Private Eye. I can show you. I've got the magazine in my bag,' by which time, they were putting me in handcuffs.' He was then arrested under section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which prohibits support for a proscribed organisation. 'I thought, this is all a bit surreal,' said Farley, who had never been arrested before. 'I clearly wasn't any kind of physical threat. There was no need for them to act in the way they did. 'By this point I was in the van, so I wasn't going anywhere. I said: 'You take the handcuffs off and I'll show you the magazine because what you're doing is just daft.'' In the meantime police found out his name from his senior bus pass and he was taken to a police station. Six hours later, after being questioned by counter-terror police, he was allowed to leave, under bail conditions that he attended no 'Palestine Action' rallies, which, as he pointed out, he had never done and would be illegal under terrorism laws anyway. On Monday morning, a counter-terror officer called to tell him he would face no further action. 'So I said: 'If I go on another demo and I hold up that cartoon again, does that mean I will be arrested or not?' And she said: 'I can't tell you, it's done on a case-by-case basis.'' He said: 'There's been no apology, no explanation. It's this murky lack of clarity.' Farley, who was left with minor bruising and cuts to his arms, said he was 'frustrated and angry' after the experience. 'I was just very shocked at first and then relieved, but now I'm thinking, hang on a minute, what happened here? 'What really concerns me is the whole atmosphere of intimidation.' Farley, who had attended a number of peaceful demonstrations in the past, pointed out on the day he was arrested, 32 Palestinians were shot by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza while queuing for aid, a subject referenced on his placard. 'I saw it in Private Eye and I thought: 'That's really well thought-out. It's got a bit of nuance about it.' But I don't think the cops do nuance. 'I found out later somebody said to one of the police: 'You know you can buy Private Eye in the newsagent just next to the van you're putting him in, are you going to arrest Ian Hislop?' 'So they're coming out with all this guff about: 'If it's in print, it's fine. But if you carry it on the demo [it's illegal].' That sounds to me like the police making up the law.' Hislop, speaking from Private Eye's London office – having not been arrested – said the cartoon was 'quite blatantly an example of freedom of speech on the subject of a government policy'. The editor of the 63-year-old satirical magazine said: 'I did think it was mind-boggling. I mean, ludicrous. He obviously couldn't believe it and the immediate response in the office was that someone said: 'Well, the jokes have been criminal for ages.'' He said the cartoon was 'actually a very neat and funny little encapsulation about what is and isn't acceptable, and it's a joke about – I mean, it's quite a black joke – but about the hypocrisies of government approach to any sort of action in Gaza. 'So it's not difficult to understand. It's critical, but it is quite clearly a joke. Seems to me absolutely extraordinary that someone could be arrested for holding it up.' He added it was 'disappointing' that the arresting police officers did not appear to have heard of Private Eye. 'That's really depressing, isn't it? That's probably the most appalling thing,' he joked. West Yorkshire police said: 'We are sorry that the man involved is unhappy with the circumstances of this arrest. As this is a new proscribed organisation, West Yorkshire police is considering any individual or organisational learning from this incident.'


The Guardian
22 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Reform councillors criticised after voting to spend £150,000 on political advisers
Reform UK councillors have been accused of hypocrisy after voting to spend £150,000 on hiring political advisers at a county council despite pledging to cut waste and save money. The plans were put forward by Reform councillor George Finch, a 19-year-old who was narrowly elected as the leader of Warwickshire county council during a meeting on Tuesday, which was picketed by protesters. The protest came after a row over an attempt by Finch, as interim leader, to have a Pride flag removed from council headquarters before the end of Pride month. The chief executive refused the request, telling him she was responsible for such decisions. However, there was fresh controversy during a meeting of the council, one of several where Reform became the largest party in the recent local elections, as it narrowly pushed through plans to hire political advisers but lost a separate vote relating to the climate crisis. Opposition councillors accused Reform of reneging on promises to voters over the political advisers, who would be publicly funded for it and the other two largest parties, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. 'These proposals are all about spending some money so they can have a chum in their group and I think that is not particularly helpful given the financial state of this council,' said George Cowcher, councillor and deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats. He added that it was almost a quarter of the way through the financial year and there had yet to be any proposals from Reform about managing the authority's budget. Sam Jones, a Green party councillor, said: 'Reform have had a sniff of power, they're making it so clear that they never cared a jot for the will of their supporters. No to overpaid, unelected bureaucrats before the election, but yes to up to £150,000 of unfunded spending on political assistants now the campaigning is over.' Finch defended the plans, which would involve a political assistant for each of the three big parties, on the basis that it was permitted by legislation and occurred in other councils. If other parties were against it, he challenged them to vote against the plan and then choose not to hire political assistants. His colleague, the councillor Michael Bannister, said the party saw the move as 'value for money' and funds would be found from elsewhere. However, there was a defeat for Reform when opposition MPs supported a green motion to recognise that scientific evidence clearly states climate change is happening, and support the council's 2019 vote to declare a 'climate emergency.' 'We are here as local people sorting out local problems. It is ridiculous to be asking for anything else,' said Reform councillor Luke Cooper, who said he had experience of installing solar panels and measures that he said people could not afford. Sarah Feeney, the Labour leader, said the climate crisis was a 'not a hypothetical' and was already having a major impact on farmers, with flooding causing elderly people to sometimes barricade themselves in their homes. Tracey Drew, a Green party councillor, said: 'The least well off in our county are going to be the first and the most to be impacted by the effects of climate change.' Outside the council meeting, demonstrators included Becky Davidson, a district councillor who said she was there to support the LGBT community. Finch was 'using a marginalised community as a propaganda tool', she said. Carolyn, a resident of Stratford-upon-Avon, was holding a placard reading: 'Donald Trump inspires Farage to import to the UK DEI: Division, Exclusion, Inequality'. She said she was worried about Reform overturning 'policies around recognising the climate emergency' and that she was there to object to Finch's 'pettiness' over the Pride flag.


Times
an hour ago
- Times
What Kemi Badenoch's reshuffle says about the state of the Tories
K emi Badenoch was warned. A succession of senior Tories told her, privately and publicly, that life as opposition leader would be an unrelenting grind. Even Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, has offered her sympathy. However, unlike previous Conservative opposition leaders, Badenoch is contending with a new — and potentially existential — threat. The rise and rise of Reform is largely at the expense of the Tories. The Conservatives have gone backwards in the polls since the general election and most voters think Badenoch would be a worse prime minister than Starmer, whose own poll ratings remain dire. So where are the Tories? And can Badenoch begin to turn it around, starting with today's shadow cabinet reshuffle?