Last week we reported on how offensive social media posts of Reform UK’s Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket branch were triggering a growing backlash.
The Facebook and X accounts of this local Reform UK branch have now been shut down, following a series of ‘vile’ posts. The party claimed the accounts were hacked and “hijacked by agitators”, asserting that no active members were responsible for the inflammatory content.
The problematic posts included offensive attacks on political and high-profile figures. Examples included derogatory slurs directed at Green Party members, and insults aimed at LBC broadcaster James O’Brien, calling him “sub-human” and “human garbage”.
Branch chairman Cllr Simon Aalders stated that after unsuccessful attempts to ‘clean off’ the accounts, they made the decision to delete them entirely.
Condemnation
The social media activity had drawn condemnation across the political spectrum. Liberal Democrat candidate Andy McGowan described the content as “divisive” and said the “the political temperature needs to come down”.
Labour MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, Dr. Peter Prinsley, and leader of the Green group on Suffolk County Council (SCC), Cllr Andrew Stringer, both criticised the language used, emphasising the need for respectful debate and integrity.
Leader of the Conservative group at SCC, Cllr Richard Rout, added that the party should have acted sooner to curb the spread of what he termed “sowing the seeds of division and hatred”.
Aalders maintained that Reform UK is a “professional” party focused on a “message of change”. He reiterated that belittling others is “not a healthy thing to do”.
Meanwhile, SCC’s new Reform UK leader Cllr Michael Hadwen confirmed he had advised branch officials to take the accounts down to prevent “further embarrassment”.
James O’Brien seeks an explanation
On 25 May, LBC talk show host James O’Brien, who has over 260,000 followers on Bluesky, shared our article which had been reposted by the Bylines Network.
Then on 27 May, LBC posted a video clip on Facebook of O’Brien discussing Reform’s reaction to his request for an apology for the posts.
O’Brien said that LBC hadn’t heard back from the Reform UK Press Office since contacting them for an apology for the “subhuman” comments made on the local branch’s account.
They had receiveda response from Aalders, however. It didn’t appear to be an apology, but he stated that they didn’t have the ‘technical know-how’ to establish exactly who the ‘bad actors’ were. He added that he found the content very disturbing.
They asked if LBC or O’Brien had any information about who might have made these comments on their Twitter account, which left O’Brien completely perplexed.
O’Brien said he still awaits a personal apology.
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