No tracking. No cookies
Subscriptions
Subscriptions
Support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system
Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features
Reform-led Durham County Council has been accused of dodging democratic accountability after removing LGBT+ and Ukraine flags from council buildings without any formal decision-making process or paper trail.
In May, shortly after being elected, the Reform UK council – like others run by the party – took down the Pride flag and a Ukrainian flag from its HQ. However, no formal decision has been recorded to enact the move, a Freedom of Information Request (FOI) has revealed – despite the council having an official protocol on flags.
Former lawyer Syd Bolton had requested, “copies of the formal recorded decision of the council to determine which flags may or may not be flown on Durham County Council buildings, including any and all minutes and transcripts of the relevant meetings of councillors and or executive officers at which such a decision was taken by the newly elected Reform-led council”.
The Council responded, saying: “This information is not held…The flag protocol was changed at the request of the Leader of the Council in line with the protocols of the new administration. This did not require a formal decision of the authority.”
Bolton, who no longer practices law in the UK, said: “In Durham it’s flags, in Kent it’s ‘DOGE’ [Department for Government Efficiency], in Staffordshire, it’s book banning [removing LGBT+ books from library displays] and other issues elsewhere like stopping ‘woke’ equality schemes etc.
“It is predictable posturing in many ways but as we know, it is used effectively by (Nigel) Farage to promote his MAGA-copying agenda into the UK mainstream.
“Needless to say almost nobody has questioned the vires [legal authority] of these actions, instead just walking into the trap of engaging with the latest issue Farage chooses.”
Bolton said Durham County Council’s response to his question is “even more problematic than I foresaw”, explaining: “Not only does the council administration say that it is within the powers of Reform’s council leader to change published policy [on flags] by decree, they claim there is no record of any decision making process and no record of the amended policy.”
This is remarkable as it means public policy is in effect whatever Reform says it is and even council executive staff don’t have written records of the policies they are meant to enact
Syd Bolton, former lawyer
Bolton added the “lack of any transparent records of how and on what basis policy is changed and how the public is unable to see what such policies contain, save for the assertion by Reform of what they say it is”, is the most concerning part.
Reform controls 12 councils in England, according to Open Council Data.
Following the May elections, it was Reform HQ who sent letters to Reform-run authorities saying they were sending in so-called DOGE teams of activist auditors to identify potential cuts. Reform-run council staff have faced difficulties since in deciding what data to hand over to these politically-led teams.
Durham’s response to Bolton included its last Flags Protocol, which mirrors national legislation in recognising the Pride flag.
The document states that is not due for review until 2026, however, it also notes that it was recently changed by executive powers.
The fact no records of the decision, or any amends to the flags policy, are available, concerns Bolton as being “particularly dangerous and open to legal challenge”.
“Authorities may indeed have a range of executive powers under which policy can be enacted, changed, or rescinded. But the absence of a public record is almost certainly unlawful in my view. Not to mention deeply undemocratic – a Trumpian speciality.”
Bolton agrees that Reform can choose not to fly certain flags on the councils it runs, but argue there must be a clear process and decision-trail for its actions: “To that extent, it sets a dangerous precedent for other arbitrary political acts.”
The Good Law Project’s community outreach head, Jess O’Thomson, said Reform’s “pathetic and desperate attempt to imitate Trump and Putin is embarrassing”.
It’s authoritarian at it’s core, dodging accountability for ideological ends. No-one benefits from this – it undermines democracy, and it undermines our commitment to an inclusive society
Jess O’Thomson, The Good Law Project
Alex Matheson, Director of Inclusion at LGBT Foundation, said the organisation calls for national consistency around flag protocol, “so that local councils cannot attempt to support LGBTQ+ erasure”.
“Currently, only the rainbow pride flag is allowed to be displayed outside a building without having to get planning permission. We want to see this updated to ensure that the progress pride flag can be displayed, better reflecting the breadth of diversity within the LGBTQ+ community.”
Colin Talbot, Emeritus Professor of Government at University of Manchester, told Byline Times be believes the council “may be open to judicial review” over the flag decision.
“The reason is Reform is focussing on these flag-type-issues is because they are more interested in culture wars than the hard business of actually governing.”
They entered local government with no manifesto, no serious policies and in most cases zero experience. And little understanding of the constraints – constitutional, legal, financial, regulatory, etc – they would face
Professor Colin Talbot
A spokesperson for Durham County Council said its protocol on which flags “we do and do not fly was changed at the request of the leader of the council. As we do not have a formal protocol, a formal decision by the authority was not required in order to make any changes”.
The council claims that as the changes to the flag-flying protocol did not require a formal decision, there are no published records relating to it.
Bolton plans to challenge the council’s response by requesting an internal review, before taking it to the Information Commissioner if needed.
He concludes: “Even if the way [Reform] is acting is a calculated piece of political pantomime to project national power, albeit from an absurdly parochial level, the mainstream media accepts this as the default. That is our biggest enemy.”
holding farage to account #reformUNCOVERED
While most the rest of the media seems to happy to give the handful of Reform MPs undue prominence, Byline Times is committed to tracking the activities of Nigel Farage’s party when actually in power
Contribute to our #ReformUncovered crowdfunderGot a story? Get in touch in confidence on josiah@bylinetimes.com
Subscribers Get More from JOSIAH
Josiah Mortimer also writes the On the Ground column, exclusive to the print edition of Byline Times.
So for more from him…
