'Not on our watch': Protestors booed and shouted as Reform leader pauses first ever cabinet meeting due to interrupted proceedings

Senior members of West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) walked out of Reform UK’s first-ever cabinet meeting after climate protesters interrupted proceedings.

Campaigners from 1,000 Voices filled the public gallery at the administration’s first meeting of its senior decision-making panel on Tuesday, June 3.

They said the council was not doing enough to protect communities from the effects of climate change, and took particular issue with Reform’s stance on net zero and climate issues.

The authority briefly paused the meeting and left the room after the public speakers did not end their speeches and return to their seats when asked.

The 1,000 Voices campaign has been present at many council meetings held in the town centre in the past. Their multitude of approaches have included handing out fake death certificates of people they claimed would die because of poor air quality, staging a fake death during a speech to make a point about ‘toxic’ air, and playing loud music outside the council chamber to interrupt normal business.

At a national level, Reform UK has blasted net zero and stated its intention to scrap the country’s targets, as well as calling to impose taxes on the renewable energy sector.

In the group’s 2024 policy document, ‘Our Contract With You’, it states: “Net Zero is pushing up bills, damaging British industries like steel, and making us less secure. We can protect our environment with more tree planting, more recycling and less single use plastics.

“We must not impoverish ourselves in pursuit of unaffordable, unachievable global CO2 targets.”

One of the 1,000 Voices campaigners, Tina Matthew, told the new cabinet members during her speech: “We’ve been told that Reform’s national leader has told you not to have any interest in undertaking equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging and climate change training.

“You are being directed to not care about the very things central to the lives of your children. The climate crisis is real, it’s human made and the evidence is unequivocal.

“Northamptonshire is affected by floods, failing crops and extreme weather events. Take positive action, stop denying or ignoring facts.”

Council leader Mark Arnull repeatedly asked Ms Matthew to stop speaking and return to her seat during her speech. He instructed her to “stick to the matter of the report” in her address, which was supposed to be on a public space protection order (PSPO) for car cruising in the region.

The Reform UK leader then decided to pause the meeting, at which point the council’s live stream was cut and cabinet members stood up to leave the room. Campaigners in the audience booed and shouted ‘shame’ at councillors as they left.

During the short break, WNC officers told members of the audience that the chair has the power to dismiss public speakers when the issues are not relevant to items on the agenda. Once the councillors filtered back in and restarted proceedings, a final public speaker was called to address the meeting.

1,000 Voices activist Ian Bates, who also had his microphone turned off by council staff after speaking for longer than his allotted three minutes, said: “We will not let you threaten our communities, our children, and their future with your ideology. Not on our watch.”

Audience members sat watching the cabinet also stood up to repeat his final phrase, holding white mask cutouts in front of their faces. A further banner reading ‘Not on our watch’ was held up at the side of the meeting as the proceedings continued and councillors began discussing the PSPO plans in more detail.

A WNC spokesman said: “There was a brief adjournment due to a disturbance in the public gallery. No members of the public were removed and the meeting reconvened afterwards

“Cabinet meetings are open to the public and members of the public can request to speak at them, however when doing so we would request them to follow the rules and not cause disruption to the meeting. When a disturbance occurs, the chair of the meeting will take appropriate steps to restore order.”