Media needs to take a stand against Reform’s press bans

This article first appeared on NottinghamshireLive and has been republished with permission from the author

As a journalist, I have always been a huge supporter of democracy.

It’s heartening to see when enough people get behind a movement, it can make a genuine change to who is in charge of your local council or in power in government.

I respect people voting for who they think will bring the biggest successes to their local areas.

Reform was the big story at the latest local elections in England, taking control of several councils and winning more than 1,450 seats. The people spoke and they got what they wanted.

Regular readers of my publication [Nottinghamshire Live and Nottingham Post] will know we’ve got previous with Reform, however. Elected members at Nottinghamshire County Council banned Nottingham Post reporters from speaking to councillors, receiving press releases and from attending taxpayer-funded events (like the opening of a park or new road).

That was all because of one article we wrote about a disagreement behind the scenes concerning local government reorganisation. We went on the defensive, bringing global media attention to the issue and eventually forcing them to back down with a legal challenge.

So I watched the results roll in at the end of last week and hoped all of our efforts would have gone some way towards discouraging other politicians to do the same. Nottinghamshire County Council suffered weeks of negative publicity, overshadowing any good work they did, and the leadership looked inexperienced and, quite frankly, embarrassed themselves.

Maybe Reform’s backtrack with us would prevent others from behaving in this way? I know from conversations with other journalists at the time that other councils who were ‘considering’ such a strategy seemed to suddenly go quiet on it.

But the early signs are that Reform’s big success is leading them to a place of arrogance. They think they are beyond criticism and don’t need to speak to the media or answer questions on behalf of the very people who voted for them.

Councillors at Suffolk County Council have been refusing to engage with local press already, obeying an edict by Ipswich’s Reform chairman Shayne Pooley.

"Neither we or the voters need you," he retorted in a Facebook post after the election.

Over in the West Midlands, candidates standing for election in Sandwell were told by none other than Ashfield MP Lee Anderson - who we know has been advising councillors in Nottinghamshire - to ‘beware of the media’

"Let me give you a word of advice, beware of the media, don’t speak to them, you’ve no need to, you’ve actually no need to speak to the papers, TV and radio at all."

This is the same Lee Anderson who made a point of belittling our reporter Oliver Pridmore at a recent press call to announce the roll-out of JCB Pothole Pros in Nottinghamshire.

The conversation went like this. A polite request for an interview, then:

"You’ve got two hopes - Bob Hope and no hope…journalists have got a bad enough name and you, if you can even call yourself that, are one of the worst. Have a nice day," Mr Anderson said.

We know Lee likes to perform in front of his Reform supporters and that this form of bullying will go down well with voters so I’ve been reluctant to publish this. But from what I’ve seen around the country since the elections, I think now it’s time to expose this behaviour again.

The one local exception to this is Newark MP Robert Jenrick, who has been building a good relationship with our reporters and as a result has highlighted some important issues in his constituency to a wider audience.

If you voted for Reform, you may be feeling that they can really change the country right now and you’ve got hope. We all need hope right now, and I understand.

But at some point, you might want to know if the promises made on the election leaflet will actually ever be fulfilled, or where your council tax money is being spent, or why exactly the pothole you reported six months ago still can’t be fixed despite a flashy JCB machine being purchased.

Will you really then want to get this information straight from a politician’s Facebook page? Maybe you’d look there first but how would you then verify that information? Do you want to spend eight hours at a full council meeting or would you rather we do that for you and summarise what happened?

I am not saying you shouldn’t question or challenge what we publish, but without access to politicians, we will find it hard to get the pieces of information you need to put together the whole picture.

At some point, things won’t be so rosy for Reform. It happens to all political parties. Then you will be glad you have us to ask those thorny questions for you - it’s ok you don’t need to tell anyone you snuck a look at the local media. We like the silent majority too.

In the meantime journalists need to stand up, keep asking and keep reporting when the questions refuse to be answered. Because I truly wonder what Reform has got to hide.