Northampton Reform UK councillor who tweeted racist and sexist remarks calls for schools to teach children 'responsible smartphone use'
A Reform UK councillor who previously posted racist and sexist remarks on social media has called on schools to teach children how to use smartphones responsibly.
Councillor Ronald Firman, who represents Hunsbury on West Northamptonshire Council, made the comments during a debate at the latest full council meeting about a proposed review of smartphone use in schools.
Councillor Firman said that banning phones outright could disadvantage pupils from poorer backgrounds and argued that schools should instead focus on teaching responsible use.
He told councillors: “Schools should focus on teaching responsible use. This includes guidelines, responsible digital education and consequences from misuse, empowering students to make informed decisions, foster maturity and accountability."
Cllr Firman was elected in May as part of Reform UK’s breakthrough on West Northamptonshire Council, just weeks after historic tweets resurfaced showing racist and sexist remarks he made between 2017 and 2018 on his now-dormant X (formerly Twitter) account.
Reform UK declined to comment on the tweets at the time, and Mr Firman – who also serves as a parish councillor for East Hunsbury – did not respond to requests for comment.
The X account has not been active since February 2018.
Following his election, West Northamptonshire Council leader Mark Arnull defended Councillor Firman.
Councillor Arnull told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “Information relating to councillor Firman was in the public domain at the time of the election and he was democratically elected by the people of Hunsbury. I am happy for him to continue in this administration.”
The motion debated at the meeting, proposed by Conservative councillors Fiona Baker and Pinder Chauhan, called for new countywide guidance on restricting smartphones and other devices in schools.
Cllr Baker said: “I’ve spoken to schools in other areas that have put this in place and they are seeing better concentration, less visits to the toilet during lessons, and good interaction during breaks. Many other authorities up and down the country are supporting schools to put these measure in place.”
In response, Independent councillor Ian McCord criticised the proposal, saying: “Councillor Baker started this debate by saying we want to ban mobile phones in school. That's not something this council can do.
“So in that respect, this is out of order, if that's what you want to do. All we're going to do is give schools something which will have the legal status of a copy of the Beano. It doesn't make any sense to me to actually use resources to develop something which doesn't need to be done. Leave schools alone, leave schools to produce their own policy, leave parents to parent. And can I also say, if anybody votes for this motion who's ever given a young person a mobile phone, then you're a hypocrite.”
It was carried with 34 votes in favour, 10 against and 12 abstentions.