ReformUK Walsall

Bangor University have banned Reform and called us “racist, transphobic and homophobic”. Bangor receives £30 million in state funding a year, much of which comes from Reform-voting taxpayers. I am sure they won’t mind losing every penny of that state funding under a Reform government. After all, they wouldn’t want a racist’s money would they?

This article is a textbook example of how far parts of the mainstream media have fallen from serious journalism into sensationalised, agenda-driven gossip. The headline and tagline are deliberately misleading, designed to provoke outrage rather than inform. At no point did The Times contact me to check the facts. That omission is telling. Had they done so, the narrative they were so clearly keen to push would have collapsed. The reality is simple. The proposed staff parking charge appeared in an early draft of the budget as one of many options to be discussed. After Reform identified an additional £2.5m in savings, the proposal was removed entirely as it was no longer necessary. Kent County Council is not introducing parking charges for staff. The article also misrepresents the issue of the courtyard parking. This area had been used for decades by the Leader and senior staff, but was closed because it was at risk of collapse due to historic subsidence. Repairs were completed last year and the courtyard was safely reopened for allocated parking. There is nothing scandalous about that, unless one is determined to invent one. Perhaps most revealing is the structure of the piece itself. The council’s factual response is buried at the very end of the article, while comments from opposition parties are given prominence first. That editorial choice exposes the real intent: not to report the facts, but to land a cheap political hit. This is an embarrassing piece of journalism. It misleads readers, distorts routine budgetary processes, and attempts to manufacture controversy where none exists. Reform has saved money, protected staff, and acted responsibly. The only thing exposed here is how desperate some outlets have become to attack Reform at any cost.