A Reform council leader’s decision to ban his councillors from engaging with a prominent local newspaper is a “massive attack on local democracy” and a sign of things to come should the party form the next government, the outlet’s editor has warned.
In an unprecedented move, Nottinghamshire county council’s four-month-old Reform administration has said it will no longer deal with the Nottingham Post, its online edition and a team of BBC-funded local democracy journalists that it manages.
Nigel Farage is already facing calls to intervene in the row, with local MPs accusing Reform of “rank hypocrisy” over its previous claims to support free speech and transparency. Lee Anderson, the Reform MP for Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, has said he will join in the boycott.
In an interview with the Guardian, Natalie Fahy, the editor of the Nottingham Post and Nottinghamshire Live, said the ban had come from Mick Barton, the county council’s leader, after a story about plans for a restructuring of local government. She said it was a worrying sign of Reform’s approach to the free press.
“It’s a massive attack on local democracy,” she said. “I’ve been a journalist for 20 years. We have had our ups and downs with all kinds of councils. We managed to get along fine, because most elected officials accept this is par for the course. You are going to get some negative press. What you don’t do is shut the shop up.
“This is a worrying sign of potentially things to come if Reform wins the next election. What you’re seeing here in Nottinghamshire is probably a microcosm of how it will be across the whole of the UK if Nigel Farage becomes prime minister. You are just going to see this kind of shutting down of questioning.
“They need to be answerable to the people who elected them. We don’t take a political stance. We’re not anti-Reform. We’re just trying to find out what’s going on.”
The move has already caused concern among other parties. The Lib Dems have written to Farage to demand that he step in to reverse the “dangerous and chilling” decision. They also suggested that the move may have breached local government’s code of conduct, which calls on elected officials to “submit themselves to the scrutiny”.
The row in Nottinghamshire has been rumbling since a clip of an interview in June with a local councillor, in which they appeared to have only a loose grasp of their brief, went viral online.
Relations appeared to improve and Reform figures were engaging with the local reporters. However, Barton cut access after raising objections to a story examining plans for a reorganisation of local government, which included alleged disagreements within the Reform group of councillors.
Under the ban, none of the 41 Reform councillors will speak to Nottinghamshire Live and local democracy reporters. The outlet has been told press officers have also been instructed to take Nottinghamshire Live off council media distribution lists, meaning it will not receive some press releases or be invited to events.
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Editors have been informed that the only time they will be able to receive a statement from a Reform councillor is in an emergency situation, such as flooding or an incident at a council-run school.
Michael Payne, the Labour MP for Gedling, accused Reform of “rank hypocrisy” over the ban. “Reform told us throughout the election, and continues to tell us, that they’re the party of free speech and transparency,” he said. “But it’s clear from this decision in Nottinghamshire that free speech and transparency only applies to everybody else and not to themselves.”
Nadia Whittome, the Labour MP for Nottingham East, said the move “sets a chilling precedent”, adding: “The party claims to be in favour of free speech but is yet again showing its true, authoritarian colours.”
Jo White, the Labour MP for Bassetlaw, said it amounted to a “shutting down of democracy”. Steve Yemm, the Labour MP for Mansfield, said: “Refusing to speak to your local paper is not how you build trust. It’s how you hide.”
Reform UK declined to comment. Barton has been contacted for comment.