Protesters interrupt Reform UK council meeting

Police were called in to remove protesters who interrupted a council meeting over racist social media posts some members were accused of making.

The scenes as Staffordshire County Council sat on Thursday followed days of upheaval at the Reform UK-led authority, with Ian Cooper resigning as leader on Tuesday following an inquiry by the party into posts allegedly linked to him.

The following day it emerged that cabinet member for finance Chris Large had been accused of writing and liking racist posts, a claim which the councillor has denied.

Protesters during Thursday's meeting said they would not leave until the remaining Reform cabinet members accused of racist content had resigned.

Last month it emerged that a parish council asked another Reform UK member Peter Mason to stay away from its meetings after his social media posts came under fire, with one referring to black women in derogatory terms when discussing a statue. He since apologised.

Officers from Staffordshire Police attended the council chamber. The force has been contacted for comment along with detail on the outcome of officers' presence.

Acting leader of the council Martin Murray addressed recent controversies at Thursday's meeting and promised any complaints would be dealt with through the standards process.

Murray said: "It has certainly been a difficult few days for this council and I truly recognise the strength of feeling surrounding recent events.

"But please do not forget all the positive and frankly groundbreaking great work we are doing in this council, it is important."

He added: "I condemn any form of racism and hate on any platform."

The leader of the opposition Philip White, Conservative, said: "We cannot pretend it is business as usual.

"We all know this is hanging over us. And colleagues, there are 47 Reform councillors in this council. Not a single one of whom has spoken about this, not a word of condemnation."

Cooper resigned as council leader having already had his Reform UK membership revoked by the party followings its investigation. He remains a standing county councillor and did not attend Thursday's council meeting.

The party's inquiry came after activist group Hope Not Hate claimed to have found racist posts on an account on X allegedly linked to Cooper.

Posts at the centre of complaints about him included one making reference to then foreign secretary David Lammy, which stated "no foreign national or first generation migrant should be allowed to sit in Parliament".

A Reform UK spokesperson said last week that Cooper's party membership was revoked following "an investigation into the failure to declare social media accounts during the candidate vetting process".

Cooper has previously been contacted for comment as to his resignation.

Large said he had not made the comments linked to an account named "cllrchrislarge" which featured numerous videos of him discussing politics.

He claimed the TikTok account was shared among a number of people, adding that he fully condemned the content of the offensive remarks.

Reform UK told the BBC the party would not be taking any action against Large over the matter.

In one comment, the account appeared to agree with a user who described Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy as a "greedy none thoroughbred [sic]" by liking the post with a heart symbol.

One post from the account said racism "was a left-leaning term used to stop free speech".

Mason, cabinet member for strategic highways, has apologised for the posts dating back to 2023 and 2024 that were subject to complaint, and has since deleted his X account, saying he was affected by grief and redundancy at the time of making them.

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