[No it’s not about Prince Andrew but Reform UK.] 

Despite gaining most council seats in Cornwall, Reform members were not cohesive enough to form an administration.

Devon county council has also experienced schisms and summary expulsions amongst its Reform councillors.

Now it is the turn of Kent where Reform seems to be trying to take the title of “the nasty party” from the Tories. – Owl

Reform suspends four Kent councillors after Guardian publishes leaked video of fierce infighting

Ben Quinn www.theguardian.com Reform UK has suspended four councillors on its showcase county council after a leaked video showing bitter divisions in their ranks.

Councillors on Kent county council were seen in the footage, first published by the Guardian, complaining about “backbiting” and being ignored by their leader, Linden Kemkaran, who told them to “fucking suck it up” if they did not agree with decisions made by her.

A spokesperson for Nigel Farage’s party said on Monday morning that four councillors on the council, one of 10 where Reform won outright control in local elections earlier this year, had been suspended.

“Councillors Paul Thomas, Oliver Bradshaw, Bill Barrett and Maxine Fothergill have had the whip suspended pending investigation, following evidence that they brought the party into disrepute,” said the spokesperson.

The suspensions now mean that, from winning 57 seats in elections in May, Reform has 50 councillors with the whip. Two other councillors had been suspended while a third joined Ukip.

The “chaos” on the Reform group was now having a direct impact on Kent constituents in need, warned Antony Hook, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council.

He said a council committee that would have been involved in school transport issues and which was due to take place on Wednesday has been cancelled as a result of the suspensions.

“This potentially means a child or children delayed in getting school transport granted,” he said.

“We learned in the leaked video that they have no respect for each other, let alone respect for the public. Now they are turning on each other.”

Labour and Tory MPs also seized on the affair to heap criticism on Reform and warn that it was an insight into what Farage’s party would look like in power.

Sojan Joseph, the Labour MP for the Kent constituency of Ashford, described the affair as an “absolute shambles”, criticising other recent Reform initiatives in the county, including its attempt to roll out a local version of the cost-cutting “department of government efficiency” (Doge) launched by Elon Musk in the US, and concerns the party will have to raise council tax to balance its budget.

“They’ve not even made it until Christmas – Doge didn’t work. Council tax is rising, and now they’re having to suspend multiple councillors,” he said.

Louie French, the Tory MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup, said on X: “Reform promised Kent residents the world in May. Six months later they are in complete chaos, with residents facing the prospect of even higher bills. A serious warning to the rest of the UK of what Reform in power looks like.”

The footage of the meeting, which took place in late August, showed Reform councillors complaining about “backbiting” and being ignored by Kemkaran, who told them they would be “screwed” and that Reform could forget about winning the general election if they did not balance Kent’s budget.

A source said on Monday morning that the councillors had been removed “with no firm evidence” and that it was “panic stations” at the Reform grouping on Kent, which Kemkaran had described as a “showcase” for the party’s intentions of winning power in a general election.

They added that a vote of no confidence in Kemkaran was being readied for early November, either from the opposition or from within Reform UK.

Kemkaran told her fellow councillors in an email at the weekend that she launched a hunt for the “cowards” who had leaked the recorded meeting.

[Labour said the leaked footage showed that a government run by Nigel Farage would be “complete chaos”, while the Liberal Democrats said the meeting looked “more like an episode of The Traitors than the running of a major council. All that’s missing is for Claudia Winkleman to appear and ask who they’re going to banish next.”] (Source: Independent)

Denise Bickey makes progress on SEND funding

New state-funded special educational needs school opens in Devon

By John Ayres www.bbc.co.uk

A new state-funded school catering for children with Autism and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) has recently opened in Devon to try to improve access in the county to special needs education.

Castlebridge in Tavistock currently has 12 pupils, but that will rise to 30.

It is the first part of a much bigger school which is due open its main site at Ivybridge in 2027, catering for another 125 pupils.

Devon County Council said it believed this model of providing a state-funded school run by the Special Partnership Trust was a more effective use of its resources.

The head teacher of the new school said she believed it would provide a better environment for some pupils with autism than mainstream schools.

Bridget Williams said: “When we consider young people with autism, their sensory needs and that sensory overwhelm that can come in: too much noise; it’s too bright; it’s too big a space; even some of that echoing can be really unnerving and unsettling for our young people.

“It’s about who’s around them. They need to have time to think and process, and sometimes in a mainstream school, when there is a lot going on, that’s not always picked up on and always recognised.

“So here we can really see our children, see what they need and put in that support for them.”

The class sizes are much smaller, with about eight pupils per class, and the curriculum is tailored to the individual.

It also aimed to take the pressure off mainstream schools, who might find the children’s needs disruptive, leaders said.

“We’ve got to keep money in our schools that will stay in Devon,” said Denise Bickey, the Devon County Council cabinet member for Children’s Services SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities).

“At the moment, a lot of that is going to independent special schools where they fill a gap. But we can’t rely on them forever.

“We need a sufficient strategy where we are running our own schools with our partnerships and making them work for Devon’s children so that the money stays where it should be,” she added.

Castlebridge opened in September and is part of what will be a much bigger school with its main site Ivybridge, being built by the Department for Education.

It is run by the Special Partnership Trust, which runs a number of special schools in Devon and Cornwall.

The admissions will be run by Devon County Council based on the child’s EHCP [education, health and care plan] and need.

The council said it was also working with the trust to improve SEND capacity and inclusivity in mainstream schools.