Teenager George Finch said that people who feel intimidated by the flags and their association with anti-migrant rhetoric ‘need to grow up’.
Councillor George Finch, the 19-year-old leader of Warwickshire County Council, told Left Foot Forward that he was unaware a key member of Tommy Robinson’s security team is behind the Raise the Colours campaign.
Finch was quick to distance himself from Robinson, but said he still supported the flag campaign organised by Andrew Currien (aka Andy Saxon), a former member of Robinson’s security team.
He said people who feel intimidated by the flags and their links to anti-migrant rhetoric, “need to grow up”.
He described the Bell Hotel protests in Epping as “peaceful” despite arrests on suspicion of violent disorder.
At a recent Reform press conference, Finch also suggested a link between asylum seekers, HMOs, and crime, claiming: “So many people are coming over that are unvetted.”
When asked whether it is racist to imply that all asylum seekers commit crimes based on the actions of a few, Finch rejected the suggestion.
Reform in Warwickshire has recently passed a policy to hire political assistants for the three main political parties on the council, which will cost between £150,000 and £190,000 per year.
Finch said there had been “media misinformation” about the cost of the political assistants. He said a Reform political assistant would cost £30,000 – £50,000 a year, and that they are needed because “council officers are against us [Reform]”.
This is due to chief executive of Warwickshire County Council, Monica Fogarty, refusing to remove the pride flag from the County Hall building.
Despite the cost of the political assistants, he claimed this doesn’t contradict Reform’s pledge to drive efficiency savings at the local elections.
Asking how he will pay for the political assistants, he says: “This is what we don’t know yet. We’ll have to make cuts, we’ll have to make savings on diversity, equality and inclusion and net zero.”
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