Author: Miles Donavan

‘It is clear that he did not expect to be elected, or have any understanding of what the role of a councillor actually entails’ Another Reform councillor has stepped down just four months after being elected, triggering a by-election which will cost around £27,000. David Maclean, a recently elected Reform councillor, resigned from Isle of Wight Council on Monday, citing personal reasons. Opposition councillors previously pointed out that Maclean’s attendance has been poor since he was elected in May. He also did not attend the by-election count on 2 May or his inauguration.  Last Thursday, Conservative councillor Paul Brading said…

The number of asylum hotels in use increased from 10 to over 100 while Chris Philp was immigration minister The shadow home secretary Chris Philp has been set straight on both his own record as immigration minister, and the Conservatives’ use of asylum hotels while they were in government. In an excruciating interview on BBC Radio 4, Philp tried to claim that if the use of asylum hotels had continued to halve, as they did in the last nine months of Sunak’s government, Labour would have ended their use by now. After Philp repeatedly dodged journalist Emma Barnett’s questions, she…

Lee Twamley, photographed at the front of Britain First’s “March for Remigration” in Manchester this month, has served prison time for trying to smuggle Vietnamese migrants into the UK. Far-right Britain First’s ‘March for Remigration’ in Manchester, in which the extremist group called for mass deportations, was led by a convicted people smuggler. Anti-fascist campaign group Hope Not Hate reports that ‘Lee Twamley, photographed at the front of Britain First’s “March for Remigration” in Manchester this month, has served prison time for trying to smuggle Vietnamese migrants into the UK”. A reminder that Britain First portrays itself not only as…

‘You’re tarring them all with the same brush.’ LBC presenter Iain Dale clashed with a Reform county councillor in Epping, who made sweeping statements about asylum seekers on air. A Reform county councillor in Epping, Jaymey McIvor claimed it was “an insult to British people” that people “illegally” seek refuge in the UK. He also complained that asylum seekers are housed in hotels and “get fed”.  McIvor said: “They need to be away from schools, away from young children and they need to be away from communities like Epping.” He claimed women cannot safely walk their dogs in Epping. Dale…

Members of the public cited billionaire owner Elon Musk’s “clear political agenda” as the reason for the objection. Thousands of people have complained to the energy regulator Ofgem, in a bid to block Elon Musk’s Tesla from supplying energy to British households. Campaign group Best for Britain is urging the public to write to Ofgem, stating that Musk is not a “fit and proper” person to have “a foothold in our essential services”, with around 8,000 people contacting the energy regulator lodging their objections. Members of the public cited billionaire owner Elon Musk’s “clear political agenda” as the reason for…

He’s making thousands of pounds from it Far-right agitator Tommy Robinson has pocketed thousands of pounds from selling advice anti-Islam activtism to people through an app owned by a right-wing American commentator. Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is charging up to £28 per minute for providing advice to far-right activists, and has made at least £9,194 from 300 sessions since mid-June.  According to The Times, Robinson is charging £37 for videos that last a couple of minutes, and an eye-watering £390 for 15-minute coaching calls.  A Times reporter who posed as an aspiring young activist contacted Robinson through the app,…

It shows how deeply unpopular Farage remains among the public and how the next general election is far from a foregone conclusion. A clear majority of voters still have an unfavourable view towards Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a poll has found. The polling, carried out by YouGov in mid August, found that Farage’s net rating has consistently been between -27 and -31 since the local elections in May. The latest figures show a third of Britons (32%) have a favourable opinion of the Reform UK leader, while six in ten (61%) see him unfavourably, giving a net rating in…

‘Reform are proving every day that they are not capable of running the council.’ Another Reform UK deputy leader has quit just three months into the job. David Taylor resigned yesterday, but will remain a member of the cabinet, and Reform councillor Rob Wharton will fill in as deputy leader while the group decides on a permanent replacement. Reform has not given a reason for Taylor’s departure, though council leader Joanna Monk has confirmed that he has stepped down.   This comes after 22-year-old deputy leader of Leicestershire Council, Joseph Boam, was removed from his role over the weekend.  In June,…

‘There’s nothing worse than uncertainty, what residents and everyone that works for the council wants is stability and leadership’ The Tory leader of the opposition at Leicestershire County Council, Deborah Taylor, has criticised Reform UK for creating uncertainty since winning control of the council in May. Her comments follow the removal of 22-year-old councillor Joseph Boam from his roles as deputy leader and cabinet member for adult social care after just three months in the job. Taylor, who has been a councillor since 2017 and served as acting leader of the council before the local elections in May, said she…

IPSO found that the Telegraph had reported on the Thames Water findings in a way that was “inaccurate, misleading, or distorted”. Another right-wing paper has been found to have made a misleading claim when it comes to migrants. IPSO, the newspaper regulator, has found that The Telegraph’s sums to conclude that “one in 12 in London” is an illegal migrant were inaccurate. The misleading claim was also picked up by the Daily Mail which tried to say that it was fine for it to use the claim without checking because it was “reasonable for it to assume the central premise…