Biddulph’s two Reform UK county councillors have now said they will not attend monthly meetings at the town hall because a town councillor called them “racists” – and want an apology.
North Ward Coun Jim Garvey has denied the claim by County Couns Mike Broom (Biddulph North) and Bob Egginton (Biddulph South and Endon), which referred to comments they allege he made during a meeting about Reform-led Staffordshire County Council’s failure to respond to specific questions after St George’s Cross flags were hung from lampposts in Biddulph.
A monitoring officer’s review into a complaint about what Coun Garvey said determined that the matters raised “do not have a reasonable prospect of constituting a breach of the council’s code of conduct”.
As the “Chronicle” has previously reported, both county councillors have refused to turn up at the town council’s monthly meetings to provide updates and answer questions since they were elected almost a year ago.
Their decision was branded at one town council meeting as an “abdication of their duties” and that they were treating it “with contempt”.
Although not compulsory, previous county councillors did attend regularly to keep the town hall informed about what they were doing at County Hall on behalf of Biddulph.
County Coun Broom has previously said he was “too busy” to attend and that the “level of hatred shown towards him from some town councillors was beyond a joke”.
The accusation levelled at Coun Garvey stemmed from repeated attempts by the town council to get a response from County Hall leaders after St George’s Cross flags were tied to street lighting along Biddulph bypass.
They were put up in the period last autumn when the flags appeared on streets around the UK during what was known as Operation Raise the Colours, which has links to far right groups.
One of a number of people who claimed to have founded the movement was Andrew Currien, who, according to Hope Not Hate, has links to the English Defence League and Britain First. Mr Currien thanked Britain First for donating flags.
In his initial response to the town council’s question about whether permission was sought to fly the flags from the lampposts and whether it was granted, the then Reform leader of Staffordshire County Council Ian Cooper – who later resigned over racist comments he posted on social media – said the flags would only be removed if they were a danger to the public, citing the cost.
During a town council meeting in November, Coun Garvey said County Coun Cooper had not answered the question about whether permission was sought to fly the flags from the lampposts, and whether it was granted.
Concerns about the county council’s response were raised again at a town council meeting in January after questions about the flags were sent to the now county council leader, County Coun Martin Murray.
The questions were: “For the avoidance of doubt can the county council confirm whether permission is required to affix flags to county council lighting columns; if so, whether permission was sought and granted in this instance and any risk assessment or public liability insurance is required or held, and whether the highway authority considers the current flags to be authorized or simply tolerated unless deemed unsafe.”
However the January meeting was told there had still been no response.
Coun Garvey told the meeting that the lack of any “meaningful response” was “disappointing”.
He also referred to County Coun Cooper being expelled “from Reform UK Ltd for failing to declare a social media account on which he posted racist comments”.
He then mentioned two other Reform county councillors in Staffordshire – Chris Large (Staffordshire South Brewood) and Peter Mason (Burton South) “being linked to similarly racist social media contact”.
In February, County Coun Large stepped down as new leader of the county council due to bereavement, It later emerged there had been an inquiry about racist posts on Tik Tok. In November County Coun Mason, Cabinet member for strategic highways, apologised following social media comments in 2023 and 2024, which included a derogatory remark about black women.
Coun Garvey said at January’s meeting: “I think it’s interesting that County Coun Mason, who is the portfolio holder for highways and therefore the councillor responsible for the assets upon which these flags have been illegally attached, has sought to distance himself from the racist comments he admits to have made prior to being elected. Perhaps now he is a reformed racist, and I would suggest that if we have no response from the leader or the chief executive then we pursue County Coun Mason himself.
“We suggest that we address our requests to him and that on behalf of the majority of residents of Biddulph, if he truly wants to demonstrate his contrition about his past comments, then perhaps rather than words, he should give us actions.
“He should show us that he means what he says and that he should remove all the illegally raised flags from the lampposts and road signs in our town.”
No reference was made as to what County Couns Broom and Egginton had alleged in their email to the town council ahead of last Tuesday’s town council meeting.
The only response the town hall has since received about the flags came from county council chief executive Pat Flaherty in March who said: “The flags previously installed had not been authorised but in line with our permissive powers they will only be removed when a safety concern is identified.”
It has also emerged that Reform UK County Coun Patrick Allen (Uttoxeter Town), lodged a formal complaint about what Coun Garvey is alleged to have said to the standards officer at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, which found that his comments did not breach the code of conduct.
In his findings Paul Rushworth, head of legal at the district council, said: “During our assessment, it was found that the meeting appeared to be well-conducted, with councillors speaking in measured tones about local issues.
“Having noted that general point, it was recognised that the comments by Coun Garvey, subject to the complaint, were not helpful in respect of advancing the matters under discussion.
“Although they were not helpful, his comments and actions did not in our view, meet the threshold for a breach of the code. Accordingly, although no further action will be taken in respect of the complaint, we will undertake to remind Coun Garvey to reflect on how he expresses himself at future meetings, to ensure his submissions remain in support of the issues under discussion, and to avoid any negative perceptions by others.”
Coun Garvey described the Biddulph county councillors’ claims that he called them “racists” as “completely spurious and untrue”.
He pointed out that the complaint made against him did not breach the code of conduct and that there was “no case to answer”, although he did say some of his comments may have been “unhelpful”.
Coun Garvey added: “I did not say in any meetings that they were racists. The only reference I made was in respect of referring to County Coun Mason perhaps now being a reformed racist.”
When asked to specify when Coun Garvey had called them “racists”, County Coun Broom would not comment. County Coun Egginton was also asked to comment.
Dave Poole, chair of Staffordshire Moorlands Reform who also represents the party on Sandbach Town Council was not backing down and said: “Coun Garvey and his associates, over a period of time, have referred to Reform members as racist and until we get a public apology from him we will not have interaction with the town council.”
It was Reform UK owner Nigel Farage who revoked the party membership of County Coun Cooper after the racist posts came to light.
In a press conference, Mr Farage said he had been “slightly shocked” to discover social media accounts that had not been declared to the party.
Mr Farage said: “It doesn’t look very good. We expect our people to be truthful with us and if they’re truthful with us, we’ll be honourable towards them.”
During last November’s town council meeting soon after Armistice Day, when he had stood at Biddulph’s cenotaph Coun Garvey said: “We only need to look back to that point currently on the edge of living memory in 1930s Germany, where a charismatic leader of a fiercely nationalistic party used the scapegoating of minority groups to stir up fear and division. Sadly, we all know how that ended.”
He then referred to Operation Raise the Colours. “While it may not seem as extreme, it has the same underlying message of intolerance and division.”
The “Chronicle” has previously reported how town councillor the Rev Yanyan Case, minister for Biddulph, Hill Top, New Road and Mow Cop Methodist Church, who is originally from China, said the way the flags had been flown made her feel “unsafe” about living in the UK for the first time in 25 years.
