Following my letter two weeks ago regarding the motivation of certain UKIP throwbacks for wanting to undermine and remove our local CCTV network, I was astounded to see Nigel Farage appear on TV at the Clacton Airshow railing against surveillance and security measures on the exact day my letter was published.
This prompted me to do a little research, and it would appear that Reform UK are behind a co-ordinated effort to campaign against CCTV cameras around the country on civil liberties grounds, just like UKIP did years ago.
In fact, in their election manifesto Reform UK has claimed that it prioritises privacy and resists “surveillance”, pledging in its manifesto to a British bill of rights that would protect people’s “freedoms”.
It says: “Our data and privacy must be protected. Surveillance of the public must be limited and those monitoring us held to account.”
The big question is, why is our local South Holland Independent group pushing Reform UK national campaigns?
Why do our local South Holland Independent councillors want to switch off our CCTV network at a time of heightened national security threat? How will this make Spalding safer? Are they really thinking about local security needs or is this just grubby political tactics to try to curry favour with Nigel Farage?
In a recent article (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/aug/10/reform-uk-tracked-private-user-information-without-consent), it would appear Reform UK data harvested personal data from millions of Facebook users without consent.
It would appear that the Reform UK protest politicians are once again contradictory in their priorities and once again putting our national security and personal data at risk.
Despite this, we still have failed politicians who were rejected by the electorate lining up to join Reform UK locally, and perhaps our local Independent group are also looking to merge with Reform UK?
Given that our South Holland Independent group is, in my opinion, essentially the failed and discredited local UKIP party rebranded with a logo featuring the green grass of home and sunny, blue skies to try and give them a “warm and fuzzy” appearance, I don’t think it is much of a surprise that they would attempt to be the first group of people to jump on the new gravy train.
Given the threat that Reform UK pose to our democracy, hopefully local people will again reject these people at the forthcoming county council elections next May and send them packing.
We all remember how bad things were when UKIP actually won seats on the county council, don’t we?
Richard Garvie
Spalding
