Elected politicians should expect to be scrutinised. This attack on journalists is an attack on democracy too
T
he decision by Nottinghamshire council’s Reform UK leader, Mick Barton, to ban his councillors from speaking to the Nottingham Post is as absurd as it is troubling. The recently elected leader of a council with a budget of £668m ought to be eager to communicate with residents about his plans. Yet Mr Barton’s skin is apparently so thin that just three months after winning power, he announced the boycott in response to a news report about local government reforms.
An earlier row focused on a video interview given by James Walker-Gurley, which went viral after the cabinet member struggled to answer questions. This was embarrassing. But there was nothing unusual about the issues raised by the reporter, or about the local government story that prompted the ban. The Nottingham Post’s journalists were simply doing their job of scrutinising public authorities.
Labour’s proposed overhaul of local government in England is far-reaching. In counties including Nottinghamshire, ministers aim to replace multiple tiers with one and create new mayoralties. The area covered by Nottingham city council is likely to be expanded. It is right that such changes are debated, and unsurprising if local politicians disagree about the details. Yet rather than tell Mr Barton to stop picking fights with the press and concentrate on running the county, senior party colleagues, including the local MP Lee Anderson, have announced that they are joining in. They won’t talk to the Nottingham Post either.
