“This sends a firm message that journalists will not back down if our freedoms are attacked.”
Reform leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, Mick Barton, has been forced to reverse his ban on local newspaper Nottinghamshire Live and its print edition, The Post.
Following a legal challenge by Nottinghamshire Live, the Reform council has lifted the ban and confirmed that the paper’s journalists may resume attending their events and receiving press releases.
Barton implemented the ban in August after taking issue with an article in The Post that suggested that some councillors opposed his plan for local government reorganisation.
Despite Nigel Farage’s party regularly calling for free speech, Barton took the unprecedented decision to remove both papers from their press list and said his councillors will no longer stop engaging with their journalists.
Critics have said Reform’s media ban mirrored Donald Trump’s crackdown on free press.
Ironically, in the statement announcing the removal of the ban, Geoff Russell, the county council’s team manager for litigation suggested there had been some “miscommunication or misunderstanding” around the ban.
The letter also said: “I would just like to reiterate that Nottinghamshire County Council remains committed to the principles of openness in Local Government.”
Nottinghamshire Live editor Natalie Fahy said she was “pleased this unprecedented ban has been lifted and the situation finally resolved, so that we can continue to get on with our jobs as we always have done”.
“That means asking questions of elected council officials, having access to publicly-funded information and events and holding them to account on behalf of our communities in Nottinghamshire.
“This sends a firm message that journalists will not back down if our freedoms are attacked.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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