win. An exclusive poll in the Eye says
Reform UK is on track for a huge
election win, 15 points ahead of Labor,
they say. The Daily Mail leads with
reports that Angela Raina could be
facing a sleas investigation into her
controversial property deals. BT reports
that shares in Britain's biggest banks
tumbled yesterday amid more fears that
the chancellor might raise taxes on the
sector in the autumn. and Zerod
Stewart's criticized Lib Dem leader Ed
Davy's decision to snub the royal
banquet with Donald Trump. That's on the
front of the Star. Meanwhile, Strictly
Shirley Ballas has revealed she's ended
her relationship with her fiance when he
went missing on her birthday. That is on
the front of the Daily Mirror.
Joined tonight by Benedict Spence and
Susie Bonaface. Let's dive straight in,
Benedict, because I know you're full of
excitement for the papers this evening.
Uh let's talk uh well, what were we
talking about first? Let's talk about
the FT and this ban on asylum hotels
reversed. Clearly, it's on it's in a few
of the uh papers tomorrow as well, but
let's take the FT as our lead there. And
of course, they've got someone with the
George Cross draped over their back
there.
>> Yeah. So, uh this is a decision that's
been taken. Um uh the court of appeal
has ruled that the uh the injunction on
the use of the Bell Hotel in Eapping uh
the hotel can in fact be used to house
asylum uh seekers to house migrants.
This is obviously going to cause all
sorts of mischiefs from both the
conservatives and reform. But we'll put
that to one side. We'll get into that.
You know that sort of the hij jinks of
that later. First and foremost the
appeal was brought by the home secretary
on the basis of of this being a national
interest thing. you know that you know
that that it was being sort of spun I
saw it in the Telegraph yesterday is the
the rights of migrants trump the rights
of local people. That's not quite
actually what we're talking about. We're
talking about a nation that needs to put
people somewhere and in certain
circumstances that means putting them in
hotels. Obviously that's not gone down
particularly well. We all understand
why. But the fact remains until the
country can find some sort of system in
which it can put people uh that
everybody can agree is good. this is
these are facilities that exist. This is
where these people are going. The plan
that's been put forward to take people
out of hotels and to put them into
housing. Um isn't uh in place yet. I
think that's due to come in by 2029. So
that's a long way off. And even when
that happens, there are going to be all
kinds of logistical issues that come up
with that. In the short term, this is
not a great solution, but it is perhaps
the best available of a very bad bunch.
However, obviously, then we get to the
high jinks. you're going to get an awful
lot of push back on this. Local
communities, um, you're going to get
people saying that it's not safe, that
they're not being consulted, and again,
they're going to be very upset that they
view this as their rights being trampled
on. And of course, I think reform and
the conservatives, if they still exist,
are going to make political hay out of
this or try to. So, I don't think this
actually resolves anything. It's simply
going to make things just a little bit
spicier.
>> There are 32,000 people currently,
Susie, in uh in those hotels. Uh and the
interesting thing about the bell in
eping were there some specifics around
this court case that doesn't mean it can
be replicated with other councils.
Nevertheless, the times says 13
potential other councils want to bring
their own actions even if they're not
like for like the same as what's
happened in Epic.
>> Yeah. And I think probably most people
when you see these stories because we're
talking about the protests and the views
of the people around them pro and
against.
>> Yeah. not really talking about what's
actually happened with some of the the
nicities here. So the court hearing was
not about whether or not asylum seekers
can stay in a hotel. The court hearing
was about a previous court hearing which
had said you must stop doing this until
we have a full hearing. They've then
appealed that and said well we can't
stop it now. Let's have the full All
that's happened is we're now going to
the proper hearing about the issue of
this temporary injunction.
>> It's all temporary injunctions that have
stopped something happening. that's all
been lifted now because you can't stop
something before you've even had the
court decision on whether or not you can
do it. That's a bit mad. Um so we've
still yet got to have the actual row and
the actual court hearing about whether
or not the Bell Hotel can keep having
asylum seekers. And even then it is not
having an an argument about whether
asylum seekers should or shouldn't be
housed in hotels. It focuses on planning
law and the fact that this immenity for
the community has been lost because
there's no longer hotel and it's
attracting all these protests. So all
those other hotels that you're talking
about, the other 13, which have not all
had protests outside them, they're going
to try and argue that because there
might be protests, they ought to shut
down the hotel that no one was staying
in anyway because that was why the guy
leased it out to the asylum seekers. And
it's just hope it just like Benedict
said, it's just going to create a
rolling catastrophe of news which um
only one man is going to be able to surf
and benefit from, which is Mr. Farage.
My word won't
everybody else is going to just get
absolutely choked in the backwash
because there is no happy way out of
this for anyone.
>> It it's interesting just to mention that
that picture of course on the front page
of the times is Angela Raina. That's to
do with housing of an entirely different
type her own housing. We'll get to that
uh story uh a little bit later on
because that is also in several of the
papers prompted by what was in the
Telegraph today as it happens. Uh let's
stay with the um uh the migrants
decision. madness as the sun calls it.
Uh Benedict uh striking image on their
front page as well of someone flying the
uh the flag. That's Sarah White flying
the Union flag outside the Bell Hotel
last night. Injustice is their headline.
>> I think there is I I do understand that
there is an awful lot of and this is
we'll come on to the story. There's a
story about reforms polling that we'll
probably get to later on, but it's all
sort of caught up, I think, in a general
stance of frustration. And I don't think
you can put it down to any one thing.
Right now, migration is at the top of
the list. It has risen to the top. It
could very easily be supplanted by
something else that the government is
seen very obviously not to be handling
very well. I think that's sort of the
core thing here is that K star at the
start of his um premiership said this is
something that the conservatives got
wrong which they did and I'm going to
get tough and I'm going to stop the
boats which I think Riches Sunnak also
said and I think you're all kind of sat
there going h this sounds a little bit
familiar and it didn't go well for the
last time you know the last time
somebody else tried to do it but you do
you and here we are a year later and it
hasn't got any better so it was a very
visually obvious example of state
failure there are many other reasons why
people are very despondent upset upset
right now. People are protesting because
a lot of people say that this is a
threat say to their local community, but
there are many other reasons also why
they feel upset about the goings on in
their local community. For as long as
this isn't dealt with and you know Susie
said this is just going to keep sort of
crawling on and not getting dealt with.
>> It will be I think a very visual thing
partly because as you see you've got the
whole flag protest thing going on. The
flag protest in of itself is quite an
empty gesture because it is literally
just that flags don't actually achieve
anything. But I think the fact that so
many people are doing it is a sign that
frustrations are starting to boil over.
There have been lots of there's been
lots of talk about people saying, "Oh,
the country is on the path to civil
war." I don't think it is. I don't think
anybody thinks actually truly we're
anywhere near that stage. But it does
show, I think, that a form of civil
disobedience that just didn't really
exist is starting to emerge. And I think
that is also mirrored in reforms
polling. I don't think that it's a
massive ideological thing. I think it's
a protest.
>> It's interesting, isn't it, calling it
civil disobedience? You think other
countries flying the the flag of that
country wouldn't be seen in that way at
all. Is that interesting?
>> I'm old enough to remember I think maybe
about 15 years ago when the coalition
conservativeled government was sort of
painting um workingclass people who
waved the flag.
>> Yeah. as the feckless underbelly of
British society. That was the problem.
There were certain senior Labour members
who did flying in England. It was done
as this is the thing that will make the
middle class angry enough to get off the
sofa and vote for me. Therefore, I am
going to say it's those people over
there that's the problem. And that's
changed from being about the um the the
white working class who fly flags and
doing something that will provoke them
too as well as the middle class. But
it's moved to immigration and it's
purely because that's what gets the
middle class angry and it it you know a
few years ago the son would have been
criticizing Sarah
>> not that long ago really. Um and you
know anyone who waves flags outside
football would have been treated as some
kind of social uh outcome. I do think
it's a sort of a uniquely it's uniquely
tied to class in this country is the
sort of the the embarrassment about
people who wave the flag versus people
who don't. What I think is curious is
that it's sort of emerging now at the
exact same moment that a lot of the
middle classes are being dragged sort of
kicking and screaming into a financial
situation that is actually actively
impoverishing a lot of them. You know,
they can see their living standards
collapsing before their eyes. They can
measure it over the last two to three
years, not 10 years. And I think that's
part of the it's all part of the sort of
the heady cocktail that breaks down in
sports for the major parties and the
rise of the fringe parties.
>> Let me quickly mention the Daily
Express. Government should hang their
heads in shame as their headline furies.
The home office wins appeal for asylum
seekers to stay at Eping Bell Hotel. And
if we whiz on to the Daily Telegraph as
well, slightly different tack uh from
them, Susie, because they say migrants
at Eping Bell Hotel rejoice at court
victory.
>> It's a brilliant brilliant headline. If
you actually read the story to find the
rejoicing, which you'd imagine, right?
Well, they're having a party. Yeah.
They've got some cans in. They've got
some music going. Everything's
marvelous. No. No. They've got actually
got three by lines on this. They had
three journalists trying to get the
migrants rejoicing. And they've actually
got to in the third paragraph, one
migrant in his 30s who'd been told not
to speak to the public or leave his
hotel room message to say, "I am
pleased. It had been a worry." That that
is the extent of the rejoicing. the rest
of the copy and this is more on page six
I haven't seen but I think so far on the
front page that is the extent of the
rejoicing it's a text message going well
that's a relief
>> so there's an error they should take out
the s of migrants and then it's actually
completely accurate
>> migrant still slightly different tack
from the telegraph to all the other
papers it has to be has to be said um
let's just finish off this part of our
chat uh looking at the eye the eye
weekend uh and look it is related to
this of course reform takes a shock
15-point lead over labor as far dreams
of taking power. We know that uh reform
has been leading the polls, but this is
a significant gap. Uh Benedict, and
look, we got a long way to go until the
next general election, but certainly
things stand today. They have momentum.
>> They We're creeping up to the point at
which they have the same numbers as
Labor and the Conservatives combined.
We're not quite there yet, but we're
nearly there. And that is remarkable. I
don't think that you can factor this
into Farage's latest announcement um
about migration. I don't think that they
quite correlate. So, let's wait and see
actually how that goes down. But I go
back to what I said earlier. I don't
look at reform and I think there's a
major sort of radical ideological vision
here that's being broadcast to the
public very coherently. I do genuinely
think right now it is simply the that a
lot of voters are thoroughly fed up in
this country of both major parties. And
finally they have an option that says
none of the above on the ballot box or
when they're being pled except it says
reform on it. I think that's what a lot
of this is. It is just a general sense
of anger and despondency. As we get
closer to a general election, still a
long way away and reform are forced to
come out with more policies. Well then
there'll be more scrutiny on their
position from voters coming from both
parties. But we're not there yet.
>> We started to scrutinize it this week
and Richard Ty, he's been on this uh
outlet this evening. He was on early in
the week when I said to him, would you
do a deal with the Taliban to send uh
people back to Afghanistan and he said
sometimes you got to do a deal with
people who aren't your friends.
>> And Labor have said the same thing,
which uh was not what anyone expected
from a human rights barrista. But you
know, this kind of polling is not
something now that you can say, well,
it's just flash and pan. It does seem to
be fairly steady. The issue I think for
late Tories is obviously just no one's
voting for them anymore. But the
Labour's issue is they're also losing
vote not just reform but huge amounts of
the Lib Dems as well and the Greens.
People are moving leftwards.
>> And so if you are K Star and you've got
reform taking some of your votes and Ed
Davyy and the Green Party taking the
rest of your votes, where do you tack
your course to try and save some of them
and bring them back? Because if you go
too far to the right, you're losing even
more to the left. If you got to try and
deal with this immigration issue, people
say you're attacking to the right. If
you're attacking to the left to try and
save um what's being mocked up over
there, then you know Nigel Farage is
going to come forward. But the real
issue I think why we have especially
right now a poll that's this solid is
that for the last six weeks of the
summer break, the government media grid
of announcements has had next to nothing
in it. I mean this yesterday we had
chickenpox vaccines, right? And every
single week in recess, Nigel Farah has
had a press conference. At those press
conferences, he doesn't do what the
prime minister does and take four
questions that have already been agreed
with his press officer and ignore
everybody else. He took, I think, 45
questions at the press conference this
week. He's taking them from everybody.
Not because he wants to, because a lot
of those questions are antagonistic or
the same thing over and over again. He's
doing it so that everybody gets the clip
for their guy that they show on their
outlet. And then he swamps the airwaves.
It is a media strategy he's doing and
it's working. He doesn't have much
political every time he you ask him
about a political situation it changes.
Policy we certainly know policy on
migration. There's no signs on it but
he's got a great media strategy and what
Labour really needs to do is f any media
strategy at this point would be
beneficial but actually start if you
know you're coming up to a summer recess
where there's going to be no political
news get a get something in every week.
Even if it means getting K star down to
Hoveve with Angela Raina and both vaping
on the beach. Anything to get Farage out
of the papers have
>> in which flat?
>> Go and have a fist fight with Angela.
Sounds like another Hold that thought.
Hold that thought because my media
strategy is to go to a break right now.
Coming up, we will discuss more of the
day story. Several papers are claiming
tonight that the deputy prime minister
Angela Raina, as Susie was alluding to
there, could face an ethics
investigation. We'll talk more about
that next.
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>> Sky News, the full story first.
Welcome back. You're watching the press
preview here on Sky News. With me in the
studio, Benedict Spence and Susie
Bonaface. Uh let's delve straight back
into the uh papers team and uh this
other story that we've done obviously
the migrant hotels uh because that
features in many papers. Uh this story
about Angela Raina Sus that not no that
that that's Julia Roberts in case you
were squinting there thinking it was a
no another redhead but uh Angelina
facing a sleas inquiry the Daily
Telegraph says on a tax dodge. Let's
just explain this. She's bought a new
flat in Hoveve because her partner's
kids live there and he wants to be
>> closer to them. Fair enough. She said
that's now her main home, therefore not
having to pay as much stamp duty on it
as a result, but may not be her main
home main home for council tax reasons.
So, it's a little bit confusing.
>> It's got in a mess. And if anyone
remembers when before the election,
there was a lot of hoo-ha about Angela
Raina having purchased her own council
home many years ago and where she was
her main residence and where was her
secondary res because she had children
here and somewhere else and there's a
bit of a kfuffle about it. It all turned
out to be fine and above board, but you
would think having been through a
kathuffle about your housing in
opposition that when you go and buy a
place in government, you would go,
"Let's just make sure this is all fine
before we do it." And it does seem like
there's something to be questioned here.
So, she's bought this property in
Hoveve. Fair enough. Good thing to be
doing. Um, it seems like she has
divorced her husband who has the family
home in Ashton underline, but her name
is still on the deed. But you can still
that often happens if you've had a
divorce. Maybe you're holding it in, you
know, L for a child, something like
that. So that's not automatically
appalling. That can just be normal. Um,
but the property in Hoveve, she told the
tax man that this was her main home and
therefore she paid £30,000 stamp duty on
it. Now, if it had been a second home,
it'd be £70,000 stamp duty. So, she's
had 40 grand less because it's her main
home, but she is paying the council tax
on that property that is for second
homeowners, which is double what it
would normally otherwise be. So, she is
paying extra council tax, but has paid
less stamp duty. So, she's either paying
too much tax over the limit or she's
dodged the the 40 grand on
>> jumped on this. Kevin Holland has
written to the uh the independent uh
arbiter on standards. Uh I think
Benedict very quickly
>> and as far as we're aware there's
nothing actually illegal. No suggestion
that anything illegal has happened just
a bit of chicainery. It's never good to
be doing chicainery at the same time
that your government is drip feeding
stories into the media about potentially
changing rules around things like
capital gains tax on housing and telling
everybody look you're all going to be
taxed to the hilt. It's just how they
say not a good look. And you know you
don't want to do government entirely by
whether or not something is a good look.
But nonetheless I don't think there's
going to be a lot of sympathy. Um
certainly not come October when
everybody's taxes then go up and the
housing market completely in the in the
dumps.
>> We will leave that there because we have
Teds of the weather and we can't even
talk about the bananas that won't go
brown on their way to the shops, says
the Telegraph. Uh let's just take a
quick look at the weather first.
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>> Look at that sheet of flames. And that
has happened within minutes. And now
it's coming from both sides and it's
moving this way.
Good evening. It's 11:00. This is Sky
News extended press preview with me,
Matt Barbett. Our top story, more than
100 asylum seekers can stay at the Bell
Hotel in Essex after a court ruling.
It's a victory for the government, but
it has provoked anger in Eping. We are
the English British citizens. We live
here and they've got more rights than
us. Wrong.
>> It's on their head and if anything
happens here from today, that's on them
cuz they've invited it.
>> Israel declares Gaza's largest city as a
dangerous combat zone as it prepares for
a fullscale assault.
Over the next hour, we'll be discussing
today's news with our reviewers Benedict
Spence and Susie Bonaface. And we'll
speak to the editor of the
Nottinghamshire Post after the local
council run by Reform UK bans its
journalists from speaking to councils.
And later we'll have a full run through
of tomorrow's front pages as well.
Good evening. On the face of it, the
government secured a victory today over
its decision to house asylum seekers in
hotels. The Home Office won its appeal
against a ban on asylum seekers living
at the Bell, a small hotel in Essex
that's become the epicenter of
government crisis. Over the next hour,
we'll bring you tonight's headlines,
tomorrow's front pages, and the views of
our paper reviewers as well. The
political commentator Benedict Spence
and the Daily Mirror columnist Susie
Bonaface. But first, despite weeks of
protests, more than a hundred people
living in the bell will be allowed to
stay for now. Ministers though are
bracing for more legal action from other
local authorities around the country.
Skye's communities correspondent Becky
Johnson reports now from Epic.
>> Protected by barriers and police, asylum
seekers can remain at the Bell Hotel.
>> Protesters who'd celebrated a court
ruling to remove them have now seen it
overturned.
I really let down every way. All I can
say is I'm going to say it now. Sama has
to go.
>> We are the English British citizens. We
live here and they've got more rights
than us. Wrong.
>> Victory for the Home Office, leaving
locals feeling defeated.
>> Our government have hang their heads in
shame after today cuz they were involved
as well, wouldn't they? Come out and
backed up the appeal. So, it's on their
head. And if anything happens here from
today, that's on them cuz they've
invited it.
>> Anger sparked here last month when an
asylum seeker was charged with sexually
assaulting a local school girl.
Eping now the epicenter of a wave of
protests that have spread across
Britain.
Overturning the temporary injunction to
remove the asylum seekers here, the
judge said it could have encouraged more
disorder elsewhere.
This runs the risk of acting as an
impetus or incentive for further
protests, some of which may be
disorderly around asylum accommodation.
At its worst, if even unlawful protests
are to be treated as relevant, there is
a risk of encouraging further
lawlessness.
The judge said his ruling wasn't
concerned with government policy on the
housing of migrants. But the reality is
that this goes to the very heart of the
biggest political challenge facing the
government. Public anger over migrant
hotels is mounting and has been deepened
by a home office lawyer saying the
rights of asylum seekers trump the
concerns of local residents. The tries
quick to criticize both the court's
decision and the government. I think the
risk to lawlessness comes because we
have a government that has lost control
of our borders and a government that
isn't listening. A government that is
using the courts against the British
people.
>> The Home Office forced to defend its
record. Well, nobody wants to close the
Bell Hotel and all other asylum hotels
more than me and we have pledged that we
are going to do that by the end of the
parliament. Today's judgment allows us
to do it in a planned and managed way so
that we can uh get the system running
and make sure that we can uh we can exit
hotels for once and for all.
>> Eping council can return to court to
fight for the hotel's closure again in
October, but for the government
temporary relief.
In other places where protests have
spread, councils have been planning
similar legal action. The question is
where would asylum seekers go. As public
anger makes the use of hotels seem less
and less sustainable. Becky Johnson, Sky
News, Eping.
Let's see how tomorrow's papers are
reacting to that story. The Times says
more than a dozen councils are preparing
legal action against the government
despite the Home Office's legal win
today. The Sun shows protesters who say
they are furious over the court's
decision, while the front of the Express
features campaigners who say ministers
should, in their words, hang their heads
in shame after the Home Office victory.
Let's get the thoughts of our guests,
Benedict Spence and Susie Bonaface. Um,
Benedict, you think this one's going to
continue to rumble on? As much as this
is a sort of pause regarding the Bell
Hotel in Eping, others, as we mentioned
there in the Times, are thinking of
bringing their own legal cases.
>> Yes. And there are various different
reasonings behind different places
bringing their own cases, but this isn't
going away. Um, the hotels were only
ever meant to be a temporary situation.
Uh, but we've been talking about the
small boats crisis and migrants coming
that way since 2018. Now, this is, you
know, this has gone beyond being a
temporary thing and is beginning to
look, you know, rather worryingly like a
permanent solution. I mean, where the
government's talking about closing
migrant hotels in 2029, that will mean
that this whole thing has gone on for
over a decade if that happens in 2029.
And nobody is particularly enamored by
the current situation or even the
proposals of how to end it that they're
going to put people then in private
accommodation. Well, that's not going to
go down very well at all. You have even
less scrutiny um over the individuals in
question. you're competing against
people in the housing market
potentially. You're less able actually
to protect people from from protests as
much as anything else. So, you know, but
we will get to that when we come to it.
In the short term, it is a question of
kicking the can down the road. It's a
gift to reform. Almost everything the
government seems to do is a gift to
reform simply because it is just
another, you know, reinforcement of the
fact that they don't seem to be across a
lot of this and they don't really seem
to have much of a long-term strategy
beyond simply kicking it down the road.
It's also, I suppose, a gift to the
conservatives as and when we remember
that they exist. But, you know,
ultimately Farage is in the driving seat
right now because at every turn
something happens that makes people very
angry on a local level and it manifests
itself in in in ways like this. Uh,
maybe a bit of a gift to the papers as
well, Susie, because if we bring back
the Sun front page, we were discussing
earlier that this kind of front page is
something that perhaps they wouldn't
have done previously. It's a change of
tact for them perhaps because they think
it's going to bring in readers. Yeah,
it's it's working I suppose for a lot of
newspapers and a lot of uh politicians
as well because it's really simple and
you can just say asylum seekers bad and
you're done. And there is a huge amount
of nuance to all of this which doesn't
get discussed and the government is so
bad at talking about the victories it's
had smashing gangs or closing down
hotels which it has managed to do. Um,
and you know, no one is pointing out,
for example, they're protesting about
someone who is accused, not convicted
yet, accused, and still on trial of a
sexual assault who isn't in that hotel
anymore. And the assumption is that
everybody in that hotel is just a rapist
waiting to burst out. And which is
obviously mad about any group of people.
It doesn't matter where they're from.
It's a mad thing to say. Um, but any of
that nuance, any of that discussion
doesn't happen because it becomes this
very simple binary issue for or against,
pro or anti, black and white. And um,
literally and it's it gives people the
room to say I'm not racist, but I just
think it's part of the thing as we saw
with Ryland Clark this week. And
actually, if you're at those protests
and you're standing next to someone who
is saying something racist, and many of
them are, if you're standing next to
someone who's there because just cuz he
wants to headbutt the police ban, which
they are, and going out wearing masks
and they want to have a fight because
it's the summer and that's what they're
doing. There comes a point where you can
say, "Well, I'm not far right, but I'm
just having to be standing next to
someone who is far right, who is here
because it is organized by the farright,
who is saying farright things, and the
only people who are benefiting from this
is the far right. If you want to protest
the asylum hotel system, which is a
complete mess, one of the things you got
to start doing is acknowledging the fact
that parliament has given those people
more rights. The parliament, they all
voted for has told the home secretary
she must house asylum seekers. There is
no right for the home secretary. There's
no duty to house uh people who are
British. So there is slightly more right
to it, but that's our parliament has
decided to do it. Reform UK wouldn't
characterize themselves as farright.
They characterize themselves as
rightwing. But they are benefiting if
the polls are to be believed and we we I
don't think we've got it. But the the
front of tomorrow's eye shows that they
are 15 points ahead of Labor, 35% to 20
in terms of polling.
>> I don't think Yeah, I think it's unfair
to characterize reform as far right. I
think that they are reactionary. I don't
think that I've got to be honest
actually about you know the average
fascist party. It tends to be quite well
organized with a central ideology. I
don't think reform actually has that
anything approaching that at all. It
reacts from the inability of whatever
the government is of the day to actually
perform the basic duties that people
expect it to do. And that you know isn't
just about immigration. Let's be very
clear about that. There are many other
things. This just happens to be the
flash point uh for this particular round
of stories. But yeah, reform because
they are just sitting there waiting. Not
actually uh they don't have a great deal
of responsibility. I know they have a
few local councils but actually they
haven't got the sort of the full weight
of the state on them. Never have. Um
they are a very effective campaign
group. You know you got to look at them
you know where this party has actually
come from its previous iteration as the
Brexit party and where that sort of
evolved from from the sort of the the
the dregs of UKIP. That's what you got
to look at it. It's an incredibly
effective campaigning machine. It knows
how to do that. It's very good at what
at doing that. And right now the
government is making it incredibly easy
for that campaign machine to not even
really have to get out of second gear.
And you know, I keep joking about the
Conservatives, but again, they're just
not there. Nobody really knows what it
is that they're going to say other than
that they're going to say something like
what Nigel Farage said yesterday, and
they're going to try and sound tougher
on it. And that's their strategy right
now. That's about it.
>> Okay. Well, next, uh, Nottinghamshire
County Council, which is controlled by
Reform UK, has come under criticism for
banning reporters from its local paper,
from speaking to any of its councilors,
claiming the Nottingham Post's coverage
has been unfair. Earlier on, my
colleague, Jonathan Samuels, spoke to
the party's deputy leader, Richard Ty,
and asked him whether they are entitled
to be selective about who they speak to.
>> Of course, you can. That's the whole
point of a democracy is that's the whole
point of a democracy. you pick and
choose who you speak to and sometimes
you speak to friends, sometimes you
don't. Um but it is equally um a you
know a media organization does have a
responsibility also uh to present some
uh you know things in a in a sensible um
way presenting both sides of a debate or
an argument and that was the issue
>> So you want to be held to account but
only by people that you like and agree
with. I want to be held by we want to be
held to account by people who are going
to be rational, sensible, and not
completely distorted and biased.
>> Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, the
weekend edition of the uh Nottingham
Post is leading with that story. The
headline, reform warning to news outlets
sets dangerous precedent. I'm pleased to
say joining us live now is Natalie Fay,
the editor of Nottingham Alive, which
runs the Nottingham Post. Natalie,
thanks for joining us. Um, what do you
make of this? What do you make of it?
>> What do I make of it? Well, um, I'm
absolutely gobsmacked by Richard Tyson's
comments. Just to start off with, he's
accused our journalists of distorting
the facts and being completely
irresponsible. I've got screen grabs of
the conversation that occurred between
Nottinghamshire County Council leader
Mick Barton and our reporter Oliver
Pidmore. So, I know that we're not
distorting the facts and we're not being
completely irresponsible. What do I make
of the ban? Well, it's completely
unprecedented. All of my colleagues have
uh been speechless about it. I've had
much industry support from other
journalists, from people like Society of
Editors and the National Union of
Journalists. This is just not the thing
that elected representatives should be
doing. They have a responsibility to be
accountable, to be transparent, to
answer questions from reporters like
those from Nottingham Share Live and
other publications.
And it is an extremely worrying thing to
do. And if this is a precursor or
rehearsal for a Nigel Farage government,
which many are saying could be, you've
just seen the poll results there, then
then what the hell is is the government
going to be like? If you publish
something the government doesn't like,
you'll be cast out. you won't be allowed
to ask any more questions and then the
people who voted for reform are going to
start saying how come we can't find out
what's going on
>> I know
>> this is where it all started in
Nottingham share
>> I know local news coverage in recent
decades has been much diminished and
it's a tricky place to be but are there
competitors of yours who will be allowed
to ask the reform council their
questions
>> uh well if we're talking about in
particular we are we have the BBC of
course, but they don't cover in the same
depth that we do. I totally respect what
the BBC do, but if you look at their
website, they produce fewer stories than
we do. We're the ones who are at the
planning meetings, the full council
meetings, the cabinet meetings. We are
speaking to politicians on and off the
record all the time. We're the ones who
are out doing box pops. The breadth of
our coverage is, you know, the most in
our area. And I know you want
>> So will competitors be stepping in
there? I mean, not really. So, there's
going to be a news vacuum.
>> I I know you want to scrutinize what the
democratically elected representatives
uh are doing there, understandably, but
are you sensing support from your
readers uh in your coverage of this and
perhaps they'll stick with you? Perhaps
you'll put on more even more readers
because if nothing else, a row always
attracts attention.
>> Uh yeah. Yeah. Well, that that's been
the thing that's worried me because I I
don't think people realize really at the
moment what they're going to be missing
out on. They think they've got Lee
Anderson's Facebook page and they think
they can get the news from that. Just to
be clear, Le Anderson's also joined the
boycott, but and you know, at the moment
reform are in a bit of a honeymoon
period. The polls are really in their
favor. They're reacting to everything,
getting some good coverage. Um things
feel good for reform. But when uh we get
maybe 2, three, four years down the
line,
>> yeah,
>> and we see that support starting to go
down a bit, people might start saying,
"Well, hang on a minute. Why can't we
ask any questions? What is going on?"
Um, and so it's going to be a bit of a
long game, I think. But at the moment, a
lot of people are saying, "Yeah, we
don't need mainstream media. We don't
need journalists." And so, we've got to
get out here like I'm doing tonight and
and spread the message that, in fact,
you do because you voted for these
people. and you want to know how your
tax how your tax council tax money is
being spent, this is one of the only
ways to do it.
>> Really appreciate your time, Natalie,
this evening. Thank you very much
indeed.
>> Thank you.
>> Let's bring uh Susie and uh Benedict
back in uh on this very briefly. Susie,
what's your take?
>> Um I worked in local newspapers for five
years. Yeah. And I've got to say,
compared to national government, the
people who work in local elected
officials are frequently more likely to
be power mad tinpot dictators who would
do very well in a in a failing state.
Um, and I think it's going to bite them
on the bum because at some point the
Nottinghamshire Post has local democracy
reporters who are in those meetings are
going to be going to Mick Barton and
others and saying, "Can I have a comment
on this because you've you've been
accused of X and uh we need to get your
right you have a right to reply. we have
an ethical duty to ask you to respond to
this. And if he goes, "No, I'm not
talking to you." Then what's going to
happen is there's loads of stories are
going to start going in that paper that
are not with his flow on top of it at
all. It's going to affect that.
>> Interesting Benedict though, isn't it?
That
>> plenty of groups, not just political
parties, plenty think they just don't
need to be scrutinized or answer those
questions. they they've got their own
mouthpieces now whether it's Lee
Anderson's Facebook page or anywhere
else and they can use it themselves. I
thought that the the the point at the
end about how people feel and it is that
expression mainstream media. People
don't need the mainstream media because
there are alternative sources of media
out there and it does I mean you know
>> alternative facts.
>> Yes, there are lots of different you
know connotations with that. And I
suppose if we want to sort of take the
morality of that aside, it's a gamble of
a strategy. You need to really be on top
of your information output, so to speak,
if you want to keep that going. And you
need to entirely know your audience
inside out, which I think is a bit of a
tricky thing for reform right now
because its supporters are coming from
quite a broad church, so to speak, far
broader in many ways than either of the
two traditional parties. That's a tricky
thing to try to manage. Um, but I
suppose right now they're stepping back
and they're looking at the government
and the official opposition and saying,
"Well, we're not really competing with a
lot here." And actually, this is a
gamble we can afford.
>> But is this not cancel culture?
>> Yeah.
>> A cancel culture council. Try saying
that when you're drunk.
>> It's a cancel culture council run by
Snowflakes.
>> Run by Snowflakes who got who got got
the hump. And not because Natalie and
her reporter got anything wrong. They
they have not criticized the actual
reporting. They just said, "We'd rather
you didn't do it or in that way."
>> Whether it's this party or any other, I
think it's interesting what Natalie Fay
pointed out there. A honeymoon period
can be intoxicating. If things go wrong
for any council, then they'll feel the
scrutiny of the press, whether they're
answering the questions or not, won't
they? and and certainly the people who
put the council there will want
>> it's starting to go wrong already
because the original story that was
kicking this off was because a couple of
his counselors were saying look we can't
do anything because he'll kick us out.
So and that has all been reported that's
what's led to all this and if you
reacting in that kind of way if you if
you start cancel counseling people as a
counselor
>> then
>> you started it
>> then then that just shows how sensitive
tender and paranoid you are and that's
the state that that particular uh
cancellation counselor is in at the
moment. So
>> you are watching the uh press preview
another tongue twister there here on Sky
News. Uh, the Express are reporting that
Israel will not be allowed to send a
delegation to next month's defense
exhibition in London. We'll discuss the
situation in Gaza next.
Heat. Heat.