Lancashire's last Conservative MP accused of 'flirting with Reform' in signing mass deportation petition
PLUS: The states of trees across the county after a number of deaths in the last 12 months
Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.
For those who read our mid-week edition which focuses on a video posted by Reform UK county councillor Graham Dalton, you may be interested to know he deleted the video since we published our story. That feels sensible.
We're sometimes kept busy looking at what politicians of all parties are saying about the topic of migration/asylum seekers - and it’s with that in mind that I express my gratitude that Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe is not on our patch. I would never get a spare minute.
It was something of a surprise to see Fylde MP Andrew Snowden back his petition to see mass deportations and offshore detention of asylum seekers. Lowe is a politician who advocates with some regularity that women and children specifically should be deported. It is something of an escalation compared to expressing basic concern about the number of people migrating to the UK.
As I write this edition of The Lancashire Lead, we sit under a yellow weather warning for rain and the expectation that it’s going to be a grim day.
The death of a homeless man at the start of this week - not the first or even the second death caused by a falling tree in the wider Lancashire area in the last year - means attention has turned to the condition of trees across the area.
And for those heading to Labour Party Conference or who will be around Liverpool later this month we have an exclusive invitation for readers of The Lancashire Lead to join an event looking at counter the rise of the far right and increased disinformation and misinformation online.
Fylde MP backs mass deportation petition started by ousted Reform UK MP
By Luke Beardsworth
An MP in Lancashire has been accused of ‘flirting with Reform’-style politics after he appeared to sign a petition calling for mass deportations.
Andrew Snowden is the MP for Fylde and was the last Conservative MP standing in Lancashire following the 2024 general election.
He has typically campaigned around issues such as the winter fuel payments, waste disposal for local residents and plans for offshore windfarms that would have an impact on the landscape in Fylde.
But like many MPs, his attention has shifted recently to focus on migration. A video in August talked about the ‘dumping’ of asylum seekers in Fylde.
And this week it emerged that Snowden is one of 21 MPs who have signed a petition created by ousted Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe calling for ‘mass deportations’ and ‘offshore detention’ - including of women and children.
Cat Smith, MP for Lancaster and Wyre, told The Lancashire Lead: “It speaks volumes that while the Labour government is getting on with delivering for working people, Conservative MPs like Andrew Snowden are more interested in flirting with Reform than standing up for their own constituents.
“Given Reform’s announcement that would see fracking back here in our county it’s fair to say voters in Lancashire deserve better than this desperate politics.”
It is worth noting that while Rupert Lowe was elected to Reform UK initially, a spectacular falling out with Nigel Farage and the party means he is now the leader of a new party called Restore Britain that stands for low tax, free speech and secure borders.
Their main policy appears to be under the header of DEI - but rather than Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, they have changed it to Deport Every Illegal.
The Lancashire Lead asked Andrew Snowden a number of questions about his decision to sign the petition, all of which went unanswered.
We asked whether there was any reluctance to align with an MP who was deemed unpalatable to Reform UK, to what extent Fylde has been affected by the housing of asylum seekers, what Andrew’s view on the causes of the so-called asylum seeker crisis where and what level of migration he wants to see in place.
The data surrounding the housing of asylum seekers in Fylde does not support Snowden’s assertion that they are being ‘dumped’ in his constituency.
The North West as a whole is supporting more asylum seekers per capita than anywhere else in the UK, with 28 asylum seekers per 10,000 people.
But that number in Fylde - taken as a council area rather than a parliamentary constituency - is 9 per 10,000 people which works out at 73 in total.
Only the Ribble Valley, which is housing 6 asylum seekers per 10,000 people, is supporting fewer numbers in the North West.
Exclusive invitation: Join the fight against the far right at Labour Party Conference
For readers of The Lancashire Lead we have the opportunity to join a powerful Labour Party Conference fringe event (no pass is required to access) with Britain’s leading anti-fascist organisation HOPE not hate.
Hosted by Tigerlily Productions and Marking Films Ltd - creators of the BAFTA-nominated documentary UNDERCOVER: Exposing the Far Right - the event will expose the tactics of far right campaigners and explore what can be done to fight back.
Southport MP Patrick Hurley, who witnessed first-hand the unrest sparked by far right mobilisation during last summer’s riots, will also join the panel to reflect on the lessons learnt for communities and campaigners across the UK.
The event Exposing the far right: using the media to counter hate and disinformation takes place on Monday 29 September from 12pm-1pm at Camp and Furnace, 67 Greenland Street, Liverpool, L1 0BY.
During the event, exclusive clips and insights from UNDERCOVER, a documentary so powerful it was pulled from the London Film Festival over safety concerns, will be shared as it follows HOPE not hate’s undercover investigations into far-right extremist networks. You can discover more about the documentary with The Lead’s interview with director Havana Marking who joins the panel, chaired by The Lead’s Zoë Grünewald, along with Director of research at HOPE not hate, Joe Mulhall.
Secure your exclusive place by registering on this link.
No plans to change policy on trees after three high-profile deaths inside 12 months
By Paul Faulkner
No issues had previously been identified with a tree in Blackpool which killed a homeless man after one of its branches fell on his tent during high winds.
The as-yet-unnamed rough sleeper, who was in his 40s, was pronounced dead after being discovered in Revoe Park shortly before 5am on Monday.
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