A FORMER police officer who was dismissed after a “misuse of his position” in a row over a basketball is now standing as a Reform UK candidate in a council by-election.
Stuart Ball was dismissed from Avon and Somerset Police in 2019 after a “ridiculous and disproportionate spat” with Sports Direct staff over a basketball which, a misconduct panel heard, culminated in him making criminal allegations against the store’s manager.
Mr Ball insisted he had not been treated fairly and the issue had been “blown out of proportion.”
Now he is hoping to be elected as the first Reform UK councillor on Bath and North East Somerset Council in the by-election for the Mendip ward on July 3.
Police officer dismissed over basketball row now running as Reform UK candidate in Mendip by-election, www.mnrjournal.co.uk
Day: 23 June 2025
Reform’s ‘Britannia cards’ will cost £34 billion
Speaking today at Church House in Westminster, Nigel Farage announced that Reform will introduce a ‘Britannia card’ that will let wealthy foreigners pay a £250,000 fee to move to the UK, and live here exempt from all tax on their foreign assets. The move is an attempt to win over ‘non-doms’ alienated by Labour and Conservative governments and bring their wealth back into the country.
The party says the policy will raise between £1.5 and £2.5 billion annually. Our analysis of the data suggests it is more likely to cost around £34 billion over five years.
Reform’s ‘Britannia cards’ will cost £34 billion, www.spectator.co.uk
‘Get Some Help’: David Lammy Mocks Reform MP For Repeating ‘Conspiracy Theory’ In Commons
David Lammy accused a Reform UK MP of “swallowing conspiracy theories” over a question she asked him in the House of Commons.
The foreign secretary told Sarah Pochin to “get some help” after she suggested the government’s controversial decision to give the Chagos Islands to Mauritius had played a part in America’s plans for bombing Iran.
‘Get Some Help’: David Lammy Mocks Reform MP For Repeating ‘Conspiracy Theory’ In Commons, Huff Po
From Lawnmower Mishaps to Expenses Scandals: 10 Fresh Embarrassments for Reform UK
A week is a long time in politics and never has that been more the case than with Reform UK.
In recent weeks we’ve been closely following the party’s dozen councils they took control of back in May and detailing the many scandals, resignations, cancelled meetings and culture wars they have been getting themselves involved in.
After each piece we publish, we’ve been inundated with yet more examples of what’s been happening as Nigel Farage’s fledgling party meets the reality of actually managing local government, as well as holding ministers to account nationally.
Here’s a roundup of just some of what we’ve seen over the past week.
From Lawnmower Mishaps to Expenses Scandals: 10 Fresh Embarrassments for Reform UK, bylinetimes.com
Lammy urges Reform’s newest MP to ‘get some help’ over ‘conspiracy theories’
David Lammy has urged a Reform UK MP to “get some help” because she is “swallowing conspiracy theories”.
Sarah Pochin had asked the Foreign Secretary whether the US felt unable to use the UK-US airbase on Diego Garcia, following the Government’s deal with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands.
Responding during a statement on the Middle East, Mr Lammy said the MP for Runcorn and Helsby should “get off social media”.
[…]
Mr Lammy replied: “The honourable lady has got (to) get off social media, has got to get some help… because she is swallowing conspiracy theories that should not be repeated in this House.”
Lammy urges Reform’s newest MP to ‘get some help’ over ‘conspiracy theories’
The Ordinary Reform Councillor With A Lot Of Bigoted Views
Deadline looms to register to vote in £27k by-election after Reform councillor quits
The by-election is expected to cost taxpayers £27,000
The deadline to register to vote in a by-election triggered by the resignation of a Reform UK councillor after just a fortnight is now looming. People in Eccleshall and Gnosall have a week to register to vote in next month’s Staffordshire County Council by-election which is costing taxpayers £27,000.
Former Eccleshall & Gnosall councillor Wayne Titley was one of 49 Reform candidates to be elected onto the council as the party secured a landslide victory on May 1.
But just two weeks later he resigned after coming under intense online criticism of social media posts attributed to him, including one which called for the Royal Navy to shoot at small boats in the English Channel.
Deadline looms to register to vote in £27k by-election after Reform councillor quits, www.stokesentinel.co.uk
Newly-recruited Reform councillor under fire after voicemail message branded racist
A newly-recruited Reform councillor is under fire for comments made about the Pakistani community in a voicemail left to a journalist.
On Wednesday 18 June, Councillor Andrew Barry, who is a Reform councillor for Merthyr Tydfil Council, left a voicemail seemingly in error to an ITV Wales journalist.
In it, he is having a conversation with an unknown second person about the benefits system and housing. He goes on to say: “They’re putting the immigrants in the HMOs. They’re everywhere. The problem we’ve got, no one’s interested… (Inaudible)
[…]
Newly-recruited Reform councillor under fire after voicemail message branded racist, ITV