The Joy of Six 1553

Michael Savage reports that journalists are self-censoring their reporting on right-wing protests, Donald Trump's administration and trans issues because of growing concerns about their personal safety.

"The magazine’s extensive output about Islam emerges from a coherent ideological viewpoint. Muslims are invaders. They don’t belong in this country. They don’t share our values and they threaten our public spaces. Any civic engagement by Muslims in Britain is suspect and should be resisted." Peter Oborne itemises the Spectator's rabid Islamophobia.

 Alistair Jones on the reorganisation of local government in Leicestershire: "Rutland is deemed too small to be a cost-effective council (although, personally, I remain unconvinced). Similarly, although more contentiously, the population argument was likely to see some expansion of the Leicester City Council boundaries. The question was going to be: how far? And now we know. There will be a significantly enlarged city council, and the remainder of the county and Rutland will form a single unitary authority."

In the latest move to censor US school libraries, one district is considering getting rid of them altogether. Erin Reed reports from Clay County in Florida.

"Both detectives were created or at least popularized by women; both possessed a typically female kind of intelligence that was easy to miss or dismiss. But the women who made them lived entirely different relationships to ownership and credit, and those relationships come through in the characters themselves." As the early Miss Marple and Nancy Drew novels are entering the public domain, Ellen O’Connell Whittet asks what comes next for the characters.

Rob Bagchi recalls the Joe Mercer's short, sunny spell as England's caretaker manager in 1974: "He gave them a blueprint for renovation that was disastrously ignored when the caution and anxiety he had temporarily banished returned with a vengeance."

Former Reform cabinet member in Leicestershire joins Restore

Leicestershire County Council's minority Reform UK administration has lost a councillor and former cabinet member, reports the Leicester Mercury. Charles Whitford, the member for Markfield, Desford and Thornton, has joined Restore Britain.

I last blogged about Whitford when he lost his cabinet position over emails he sent to residents. I quoted the Mercury

In the emails ... Cllr Whitford claimed the people raising the flags were doing so to "reject" the "destruction of British values" amid an alleged "influx of soon to be millions of mainly Muslim men of fighting age". One recipient described the councillor's response as "flat out Islamophobic". ... 

Cllr Whitford also claimed that immigrants were coming to make the UK a "Muslim state", leading to one of the residents accusing him of "whipping up hatred" with his words.

There's been a trickle of Reform councillors joining Restore this week, and if Whitford is in any way typical of them, Reform will be more credible for their leaving, even if Restore does siphon of some their voters too.

Despite the publicity we give to every councillor who leaves Reform – some of them, it has to be admitted for entertaining reasons – it should be remembered that they now have more councillors than they did after last May's local elections. As well as regularly winning by-elections, they are the big net gainers from defections – see Augustus Carp's latest round up for details.

Later. Now comes news that a Reform councillor has resigned from the county council altogether. It's Andrew Thorp, who represents Narborough and Whetstone.

Now Leicestershire Reform want to get rid of their Private Pike

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When Reform UK formed a minority administration at Leicestershire County Council last May, 22-year-old Joseph Baum was made deputy leader and the cabinet member for adult social care. He had lost both roles by August.

Now comes news that Reform's council leader, Dan Harrison – who has to play Captain Mainwaring to Boam's Private Pike – wants him out of the party altogether and has written to Richard Tice to that effect.

BBC News reports:

In a letter seen by the BBC, Dan Harrison criticised his former deputy council leader Joseph Boam over a social media post in which he stated "I stand with ICE" hours after federal immigration agents fatally shot nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last month.

In his letter, Harrison said that 79 complaints had been made against Reform UK councillors since the party took control, of which 40 were about Boam:

"What has been Joseph's reaction?" Harrison added. "He blamed it all on the woke left-wing, fake news or political smears.

"I was appalled at his lack of ownership of the problems he created."

Harrison said the ICE post was "the final straw", prompting him to contact Tice.

He added: "I know other party members will be writing to you to urge you to kick Joseph out of the party. 

Leicester Gazette reminds us that another Leicestershire Reform councillor made pro-ICE comments, but has since withdrawn them and apologised.

Boam himself claims to be well thought of at Reform head office. Which may, of course, be true.

Leicestershire Reform councillor tweeted in support of ICE after the shooting of Alex Pretti

Joseph Boam, the Remain councillor and former deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council. tweeted an image including the words "I Stand With Ice" after the shooting of the nurse Alex Pretti.

As LBC notes, even Donald Trump has so far hesitated to defend the shooting, which saw Preti hit 10 times in five seconds.

Not so Leicestershire Reform's 22-year-old boy wonder Boam:

Following backlash from his initial tweet, Mr Boam doubled down on his approval for the agency saying: "For the people that don’t support ICE - Are you suggesting that the UK should not enforce its immigration law?

"When I said I support ICE’s work, I mean that I support the enforcement of immigration law, which is the task of Immigration Control and Enforcement aka ICE. That is what I stand by."

Which rather suggests that, as well as being unable to tell right from wrong, he has not yet grasped the difference between the United Kingdom and the United States.

Boam was appointed deputy leader of the county council after reform took minority control in May, but was sacked by the leader before August was out.

You can see why.

Tories and Reform have big falling out in Leicestershire over alleged threats of violence

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Leicestershire’s Reform UK and Conservative parties have entered into a public spat over alleged threats of violence, reports the Leicester Mercury:

Reform UK leader of Leicestershire County Council Dan Harrison used a speech at the full council meeting on Wednesday, December 3, to level accusations against the deputy leader of the authority’s Conservative group. 

He claimed that Councillor Craig Smith had “threatened” him with “physical violence”, including alleged threats to “knock [Cllr Harrison’s] block off” if the leader “hurt someone” Cllr Smith “cared for”.

And so on and on. It's worth reading the full report if you want a good laugh.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats are naturally making hay over this embarrassing display. Michael Mullaney, leader of the Lib Dem group on the council, told the Mercury:

“There are really serious issues facing this authority. We have responsibility for incredibly important services, whether it’s social care to the most vulnerable members of society, whether it’s the pressure on special educational needs, whether it’s the poor state of roads and pavements. ...

“So it’s very disappointing that we have got to a situation where personal disputes and threats of violence are down as the main issue for discussion.”

Given that Reform and the Tories are trying to attract the same voters, it's not surprising that they have fallen out. If this pattern is repeated in other parts of the country, it would make an electoral pact between the two parties harder to sell to activists on both sides. Neither is exactly a model of party discipline,

Reform UK councillor removed from Leicestershire cabinet amid complaints about "Islamophobic" emails

Charles Whitford has been removed from Reform UK's Leicestershire County Council cabinet following complaints from three members of the public. 

The Leicester Mercury says the complaints are believed to relate to emails Cllr Whitford sent to residents about flags being flown in his Markfield, Desford and Thornton ward:

In the emails ... Cllr Whitford claimed the people raising the flags were doing so to "reject" the "destruction of British values" amid an alleged "influx of soon to be millions of mainly Muslim men of fighting age". One recipient described the councillor's response as "flat out Islamophobic". ... 

Cllr Whitford also claimed that immigrants were coming to make the UK a "Muslim state", leading to one of the residents accusing him of "whipping up hatred" with his words.

You can read Whitford's response to the complaints and to his removal from the cabinet – he feels he has been "stabbed in the back" and that Cllr Harrison "was out of line" and had "no right" to suspend him – in the Mercury report.

Whitford, who held the highways, transport and waste portfolio, becomes the third councillor to leave Reform UK's Leicestershire cabinet since it was appointed only six months ago.

Reform-run Leicestershire could pay £30m to consultancy firm

Last week I wrote that Leicestershire County Council, which is run by a Reform UK minority administration, is to pay £1.3m to consultants.

That's peanuts!

The Leicester Mercury reports:

Documents published last week revealed that the "estimated contract value" has actually been set at "up to £30 million" as a whole, with the £1.4 million audit just phase one of that contract. A spokeswoman for the authority has stressed that no further work beyond phase one has yet been agreed.

The county council currently needs to plug an expected £90 million gap in its day-to-day spending by 2029 in order to balance its books – something it is legally bound to do. It also has an £80 million shortfall in money set aside for projects and an £118 million deficit in its special needs budget.

In other words, Reform came to power in Leicestershire with no policies that didn't involve flags and has found itself overwhelmed by the task it faces. So it's paying someone to tell it what to do and how to do it.

Time for the opposition parties at County Hall to work together and rein Reform in.

Reform in Leicestershire to hand consultants £1.3m of pubic money to tell it what to do

Leicestershire County Council is run by a minority Reform UK administration. And like Reform up and down the country, it took power with no policy agenda beyond banning the flying of the Pride and Ukrainian flags.

So, reports BBC News, Leicestershire is to spend £1.3m on consultants to carry out a review of council spending.

The council leader claims the consultants will find savings worth many times their fee. That sounds like sheer guesswork to me.

Michael Mullaney, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council, sounds more authoritative:

"£1.4m is a lot of money to spend on consultants to cut costs. The reality is the council has been cutting its spending for years and if there were more savings to be found, they would have been identified."

Before May's council elections, the Leicester Mercury reminds us. Reform accused the then-Conservative leaders of the authority of "wasting staggering sums" including through spending "more than £35 million in consultants in just three years".

They also made noises about existing council contracts being "fraudulent", but we've heard no more about that since they took power.

Leicestershire Reform UK cabinet exudes confusion over its budget

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The minority Reform UK cabinet at Leicestershire County Council continues to play musical chairs. Its member for finance and resources, Helen Butler, has stood down because of family commitments. We wish her well.

Her role, reports Leicester Gazette, has been filled by Harrison Fowler, who previously led on strategic planning and economic development. He retains some of his previous responsibilities, with the rest going to the council's deputy leader, Kevin Crook.

Fowler told the Gazette that:

"Efficiency is my focus. With a £90 million budget gap, my priority is working to see how we can drive down costs."

No mention of the "specialists from international firms" that the Reform UK leader, Dan Harrison, told us are going to do this work:

"They come from big companies. They know what they are doing.

"I'm looking for maximum efficiency that will have an effect on our budget."

When asked how much it would cost to employ the specialists, the council leader said he was unable to say because contracts had yet to be signed.

"Whatever they charge, it will be a hundred times to the benefit of the authority," Harrison said.

Do these international specialists exist only in Mr Harrison's head?

It's easy to laugh at Reform, but the confusion that now reigns at County Hall isn't funny. The Liberal Democrat group leader on Leicestershire, Michael Mullaney, told the Gazette:

"It’s very easy during an election campaign to make promises on things like cutting council tax but delivering for people is more difficult.

"We will look forward to seeing the new cabinet member’s budget proposals and how they are going to deliver the savings promised. Protecting frontline services especially those affecting vulnerable people will always be top priority for Liberal Democrats."

Mullaney added his group considers it "essential" to "protect the vital services which the county council delivers", including special educational needs, social care, maintaining roads and pavements, protecting communities against flooding and having quality public transport. He said: "We will continue to speak up for local residents on these issues."

Reform In Leicestershire still think they can find millions of pounds of wasteful council spending

Around the country, councils run by Reform UK are beginning to come to terms with the fact that there is little wasteful spending left to cut. But not in Leicestershire, where the county council's minority Reform administration is still living in la-la land.

Here's Dan Harrison, the Reform leader of Leicestershire County Council, talking to BBC News the other day:

The Reform UK leader of Leicestershire County Council has said a "deep dive" efficiency drive will be carried out to try to cut the authority's costs.

Dan Harrison said he wanted to bring in specialists from international firms to find ways of reducing the council's annual £1.3bn spend. ...

"They [the specialists] come from big companies. They know what they are doing.

"I'm looking for maximum efficiency that will have an effect on our budget."

When asked how much it would cost to employ the specialists, the council leader said he was unable to say because contracts had yet to be signed.

"Whatever they charge, it will be a hundred times to the benefit of the authority," Harrison said.

That gurgling sound you can hear is public money disappearing down the drain.

Quite why international companies would want to loan members of staff to an English local authority is never explained. Nor is there any recognition that any such project would have to be put out to competitive tender. You can't just call in someone you met at, say, the Reform conference.

So it looks as though the ruling Reform group in Leicestershire will eventually be dragged kicking and screaming into the real world.

Should you wish to, you can listed to the whole of the interview with Dan Harrison on the BBC website.

Reform UK Leicestershire councillor blames immigration for low water level at county reservoir

If you're short of a blog story, Reform UK in the East Midlands will always come through for you.

Sure enough, Michael Squires, a Leicestershire county councillor, has blamed "mass immigration" for the low water level at Cropston Reservoir.

He made the claim on X after visiting the nearby beauty spot Bradgate Park on Sunday, reports Leicester Gazette.

A glance at Squires' account, particularly the Replies tab, reveals him to be very online.

Now Reform UK's former deputy leader of Leicestershire is under investigation for treating voters

The former Reform UK deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council is under police investigation for electoral malpractice.

Joseph Boam was filmed in May this year allegedly handing out ice creams from a van parked closing to a polling station on the day of the county council elections.

Boam was elected to represent the Whitwick ward of Leicestershire County Council on 1 May.

BBC News quotes the statement from Leicestershire Police:

"The force received a report from a third party of an ice cream van outside a polling station in May 2025.

"This is being assessed as to whether this constitutes treating under electoral malpractice."

The report was made on Friday, the force added.

The BBC also says it understands Boam, whose family has an ice cream business, is yet to be contacted by the police and denies any wrongdoing.

Boam was appointed deputy leader of the council after Reform assumed minority control in May. He was sacked from that role and his cabinet post in charge adult social care, reportedly because the group's leader had decided he was not up to the jobs.

Talking to Leicester Gazette, the Liberal Democrat group leader on the council, Michael Mullaney, said:

"Electoral law is pretty clear on this matter and has been for many years. Obviously it will have to be looked into but if he is found to have broken electoral law in this way the appropriate action will have to be taken."

That Leicester Gazette story also provides us with our Name of the Day: congratulations to the website's reporter Rhys Everquill. Could there be a better name for a journalist?

And it reminds us that Leicestershire has a ward that sounds like a rock band: Sileby and the Wolds. Let's make it our Ward of the Week.

Leicestershire Reform's cabinet member for children and families is a full-time student

Photo by Grant Davies on Unsplash

Leicestershire. Northamptonshire. Nottinghamshire.

The carousel of stories about East Midland Reform-run councils goes round and round, and the painted ponies go up and down.

So it's back to Leicestershire and a reminder from the Leicester Mercury that Reform UK's cabinet member for children's and families' services, Charles Pugsley, is about to start the second year of a computer science degree at the University of Nottingham.

Does Pugsley, who was 19 when he was appointed in May, have the time for both these roles? His Conservative predecessor in his cabinet position, Deborah Taylor, has her doubts:

"I know how demanding being lead member for Children Services is. I did the role for five years.

"It was full-time and more, and you need to show up for our children and be there. It is not a role you can do at arms length. You either fully commit or you don't do the role.

"There is nothing worse than not showing up and not caring for our vulnerable children. They need stability, a familiar face, and be their trusted adult for them to turn to whenever you are needed."

Pugsley's reply, quoted by the Mercury: is:

"I am fully committed to children’s services and will continue to undertake this role and give it the attention and time it requires alongside continuing into the second year of my degree."

The second year of a degree course tends to have fewer exam pressures than the first of third, but we shall see if this proves possible.

Reform's chaotic stewardship of Leicestershire County Council is costing the public money

Who, we have been wondering, will replace Joseph Boam, who was sacked by Reform UK as Leicestershire County Council's deputy leader and cabinet lead for adult social care?

The answer, reports the Leicester Mercury, is two people:

Kevin Crook, councillor for the ward of Glenfields, Kirby Muxloe and Leicester Forests, will be taking on the deputy leader role and will also head up the new heritage, libraries and adult learning portfolio. Councillor for Stoney Stanton and Croft, Carl Abbott, will be taking over as lead member for adult social care.

And the result of that is that the council's Reform cabinet (the party has minority control of Leicestershire) grows from eight to nine members, in turn increasing how many Reform councillors can claim the special responsibility allowance.

The days when Reform was going to sweep into authorities and save a fortune in spending with their DOGE tactics are far behind us.

The Mercury quotes Michael Mullaney, the leader of the council's Liberal Democrat group:

"To sack the deputy leader of the county council after just three months suggests a chaotic situation in the Reform leadership of the County Council. Now we also see that he is to be replaced by two new cabinet members who will now do his job.

"This is happening at a time when the county council is facing a huge deficit and therefore potentially big cutbacks to vital local services. This Reform cabinet reshuffle so soon after they took office has been chaotic and costly for the people of Leicestershire at a time when they need effective leadership from the county council."

Reform UK sack Joseph Boam as deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council

A local political story broke on social media over the weekend and now Leicester Gazette has written it up:

Joseph Boam, who was appointed deputy leader of Leicestershire County Council after his election win in May, has been removed from his role by council leader Dan Harrison.

It goes on to discuss some rumoured reasons for Boam's dismissal, without coming to any definite conclusions. Reform itself has said nothing about why the decision was taken - the party runs Leicestershire with a minority administration.

As well as losing the deputy leadership of the council, Boam has told Leicester Gazette that he is also no longer the cabinet member for adult social care.

The Gazette has talked to the Liberal Democrat leader on the council, Michael Mullaney. He said:

"There are many things that need sorting in Leicestershire, the problems with social care and special educational needs. The potholes in pavements and roads. These can only be solved if there is a united, determined group running the county council. 

"Removing your deputy leader so soon after the election is a sign things are not going well in the new Reform administration and that there are serious splits and divisions."

The appointment of Boam as the council's adult social care lead at the age of 22 raised some eyebrows. Its 19-year-old lead for children and family services, who is also studying full time at university, remains in position.

Hunting for the Bonkers Arms in Medbourne

I went to Medbourne today. The county's new on-demand bus service has made dozens of villages easy to reach - it's just a shame that so many rural pubs are closing.

One that is thriving is Medbourne's Nevill Arms (on the left of the photo above). Some scholars have concluded it is  the model for the Bonkers Arms (I would say it is at most one of the models), and if it is then it's more Freddie and Fiona than Meadowcroft these days.

But it was a lovely day to sit outside above the brook. I drank Birrificio Angelo Poretti, because it was chilled and I liked the cinema advert, and enjoyed the entertainment in the water.

New Leicestershire Reform councillor was sacked as a police officer last year

BBC News reports, nay reveals, that a newly elected Reform member of Leicestershire County Council was dismissed from Leicestershire Police in January 2024:

Andrew Hamilton-Gray won a seat in Loughborough for Reform, with almost 40 per cent of the vote.

It has now emerged that a police misconduct hearing in January 2024 found he had called in sick, to travel to Spain, when he should have been working as a PC.

The misconduct hearing found that was one of two occasions when he reported sick to pursue his outside business interests.

The BBC says Hamilton-Gray has told them he has been advised not to comment.

All Leicestershire's university libraries are now open to everyone

Here's a good news story from the Leicester Mercury:

Universities across Leicestershire are opening up their libraries to everyone in the county. The new scheme means libraries at the University of Leicester, De Montfort University, and Loughborough University will be open to anyone who lives, works, or studies in the area.

Anyone aged 18 and older in Leicester, Leicestershire, or Rutland can sign up to the libraries for free and borrow up to 10 books at a time. The new arrangement is part of the Universities Partnership, a group formed in 2022 involving the three universities and Leicester City Council, Leicestershire County Council, and Rutland County Council.

The report goes on to quote Paul Angrave from the Universities Partnership:

"Universities are fantastic assets to their regions and by opening their library doors to local people, we are not only welcoming them onto our campuses - we are providing a wonderful additional service. The educational resources we are making available will benefit our locality and reflect our collective ambition to inspire and provide additional learning opportunities for local people."

When I first moved back to Leicestershire, there were no turnstiles at the entrance to the library at the University of Leicester, or anything like that. So you could just wander in and read to your heart's content - what you couldn't do was borrow books.

It was in those days that I discovered my favourite misprint there.

While I was taking my part-time MA at Leicester I had membership of the library, and when I completed it I was given a free card. I thought this would be a lifetime perk, but the university brought in a charge not long afterwards. Since then I have paid for a ticket in a couple of years, but for the most part have not bothered.

So well done to the three universities for making their libraries free to all.

Sunak takes questions from two "members of the public" who turn out to be Conservative councillors

Rishi Sunak is very bad at politics. So bad, it seems, that his handlers are afraid to let him meet any voters.

Here's Adam Bienkov for Byline Times:

Rishi Sunak has been accused of faking support for the Conservative party, after taking two questions from supposedly ordinary members of the public, who turned out to have been Conservative Councillors.

Broadcasters on Thursday morning carried footage of an individual wearing a hi-vis jacket, asking the Prime Minister a question about his Rwanda scheme, during an event at a warehouse in Derbyshire. 

The man told Sunak that “the biggest issue is going to be immigration over this election campaign” before asking him whether “your Rwanda plan is going to see results and stop the small boats coming.”

The Prime Minister thanked the man for his “important question.”

However, neither Sunak, nor broadcasters informed viewers that the man asking the question was actually Conservative Leicestershire County Councillor Ross Hills. 

Ross Hills represents the Mallory ward on the county council.  As Bienkov says, he is a dentist, but he wasn't anxious to talk when asked what he was doing at a biscuit warehouse.

Byline Times later identified a second hi-vis jacket-wearing man asking Sunak a question at the event as the Erewash Conservative councillor Ben Hall-Evans.

Harborough less affected by boundary changes than expected

HFM News has the news about the Boundary Commission's final proposals for Leicestershire. The idea of a radical redrawing of boundaries within the county has been dropped, with the result that the Harborough constituency will keep its spine of Oadby, Wigston, Kibworth and Market Harborough.

As the trend has been at many boundary views now, the proposals would mean more villages will be moved into other constituencies. 

Fleckney, Saddington, Husbands Bosworth and the Kilworths would move into the South Leicestershire constituency, while villages in the north of the District, along with Hallaton and Melbourne, would become part of a new Rutland and Stamford constituency.

I'm happy to see this. The original proposal was that the Harborough constituency would have the same boundaries as the Harborough local government district. But that is a swathe of rural Leicestershire with few transport links.

Keeping the traditional Harborough constituency much as it is will also encourage the Liberal Democrats. In 2005 we came within 4000 votes of winning here, and these boundary changes look favourable to us.

All we have to do now is return the Labour Party to third place and establish ourselves the clear challengers once more,

You can read the final proposals for Leicestershire and make your comments on the county council website.