Reform UK candidate won’t be suspended over ‘n’ word social media post
The party's local chair said Reform 'believes in freedom of speech'
Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.
Posts described as ‘misogynistic, sexist, racist, homophobic and ageist’ by a Reform UK candidate in Blackburn won’t be enough to see him suspended.
The reason given? Reform UK believes in freedom of speech. That’s the topic of today’s edition.
In other quick Lancashire Lead news, Preston residents are to get a chance to grill the political leaders whose parties will be battling it out at next month’s local elections.
The event – co-hosted by ourselves and the Local Democracy Reporting Service along with Blog Preston and the Lancashire Post – will take place at the Cotton Court Business Centre, on Church Street, on Monday 27 April between 7pm and 9pm.
You can register here.
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Lancashire briefing
🩺 Lancashire Teaching Hospitals has been in the news this week after the Express, GB News and checks notes The Lancashire Post picked up on the story “broken” by The Telegraph that staff had been told not to use certain phrases (such as ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’) to avoid offending foreign patients. Of course, ‘offending foreign patients’ are the Telegraph’s choice of words, rather than that featured in document which has now been reported on 16 months after it was first published. Given the very real pressures faced by the health service, it makes some sense that staff would be advised to use language that cannot be confused. Unsurprisingly, that’s exactly what the trust said when it commented: “It is well known that certain informal phrases or idioms are not always easily understood by everyone, including people with autism or whose first language is not English, so it makes sense to raise awareness of this. This helps ensure that within our busy hospitals, communications with our patients and colleagues are as clear and effective as possible.”
There are not yet any confirmed tenants for a major industrial, retail and leisure development planned for South Ribble – almost two-and-a-half years after it was given the green light. The ‘Lancashire Central’ scheme was devised by Lancashire County Council for a site at Cuerden, which was once earmarked for a new IKEA store. The blueprint for the project – on land close to where the M6 and M65 motorways meet – was granted planning permission in December 2023, just over five years after the furniture retailer ditched its vision for the plot. The local authority – and joint applicant Maple Grove Developments – claimed that the new plans would create up to 5,600 full-time jobs and inject an extra £390m into the local economy once the site was complete, which was then due to be in seven years’ time. A proposed five-phase construction timetable was set out – with three of the stages due to have started in 2023/24 and the remaining two planned for 2027 and 2028. However, building work is yet to begin and it is understood the scheme officially remains at the “pre-development” stage while a search for would-be occupiers continues.
🚧 A first phase of safety work on gravestones at four Rossendale cemeteries has been completed, after the tragic death of a boy last year when part of a memorial fell on him. Eli Testa, who was aged four, suffered fatal injuries last summer at Rawtenstall Cemetery, which is managed by Rossendale Council. Emergency services rushed to the incident but the youngster could not be saved. Rossendale Council expressed its deep sadness at the tragedy and said it would work with other agencies to understand the circumstances. The incident also prompted other councils to check their cemeteries too. Across Rossendale, the borough council manages four different cemeteries in Rawtenstall, Bacup, Whitworth and Haslingden. The sites were all opened in the late 1800s or early 1900s and remain in use. The council has just completed the first phase of temporary measures. In an update, a spokesperson said: “The initial stage of work has involved inspecting memorials and making them temporarily safe for visitors. Now, we have commenced the next phase of work, which focuses on making memorials permanently safe. This may include setting stones upright, laying them flat or levelling the surrounding ground to improve accessibility, while keeping inscriptions visible wherever possible. This work represents an important step in ensuring safer and more-welcoming cemeteries for everyone visiting loved ones.”
Reform UK candidate won’t be suspended over ‘n’ word social media post
By Bill Jacobs
A Labour boss has called for Reform UK’s candidate in Blackburn South-East Andy Mahon to be suspended over a series of social media posts.
They include the use of the ‘n’ word, sexist and offensive remarks about new Green MP for Gorton and Denton and plumber Hannah Spencer, and references to former Labour deputy leader and Ashton-under Lyne MP Angela Rayner being overweight.
The now deleted Facebook posts on his personal Andrew Fishwick Mahon account also include homophobic remarks about health secretary Wes Streeting and posts to suggest Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer would appoint paedophiles such as Gary Glitter and Jeffery Epstein as ministers.
Blackburn with Darwen Labour Party Local Government Committee chair Cllr Damian Talbot has called on Reform UK to suspend Mr Mahon after a ward resident sent him pictures of the posts.
But the chairman of its Blackburn branch, Tommy Temperley, has declined saying: “Reform UK believes in freedom of speech.”
The Lancashire Lead reached out to Reform UK’s national office to clarify that verdict but did not receive a response.
