NUJ win pledge over Reform UK Nottinghamshire ban
The NUJ Nottingham branch has secured a government pledge after the leader of Reform UK in Nottinghamshire imposed a ban on reporters from the Nottingham Post/Nottinghamshire Live news website.
The branch – which represents 200 journalists and broadcasters in the region - had written to Mick Barton, leader of the ruling Reform UK group on Nottinghamshire County Council, protesting at his order not to send council news releases to the Post and its reporters. Invitations to council events were also withdrawn and Barton imposed a “boycott” on speaking to the Post’s politics editor and its three BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporters (LDRs).
The NUJ locally alerted Nottinghamshire MPs and the issue was raised in the House of Commons on 12 November. James Naish, the Labour MP for Rushcliffe, told the Commons that Reform’s ban “represented a dangerous moment, where local accountability was not being adequately recognised.”
He secured a commitment from Chris Ward, cabinet office minister, that the government planned new legislation to strengthen “objectively, accountability and transparency” in our local councils. The proposed law will also give powers to suspend councillors who breach the new mandatory Code of Conduct for a maximum of six months. Councillors’ allowances will also be withdrawn for the most serious breaches.
Benedict Cooper, Nottingham branch chair, welcomed the new Code of Conduct measures, saying they would “better reflect the modern world and the new pressures on journalism.”
Cooper added:
“As a branch, we will always defend local journalists who experience the kind of hostility Reform UK has demonstrated towards our great profession since being in office.
“Reform’s ban on the Nottingham Post is part of a sinister wider trend of politicians taking an increasingly belligerent attitude towards journalists and journalism, both locally, nationally and around the world.”
Reform UK’s ban followed a Post article claiming divisions within the group over its stance on local government reorganisation. Last month Barton lifted his party’s ban after Reach plc, the owners of the Nottingham Post and Nottinghamshire Live, threatened legal action.
After lifting the boycott, Barton said that Reform UK in Nottinghamshire remained “committed to the principle of openness in local government.”