Reform-run Kent council accused of fabricating £40m net zero savings
Reform UK’s flagship council has been accused of telling a “blatant lie” after its claim of nearly £40m in savings on net zero was found to be based on hypothetical projects for which there was no documentation.Kent county council, which has a £2.5bn annual budget, is one of 10 where Nigel Farage’s party has outright control and is seen as a test case for whether the insurgent party can govern competently.Soon after being elected, the council leader, Linden Kemkaran, promised the party’s “department of local government efficiency”, or Dolge, would bring a “laser-like focus on getting value for money”.The council’s leadership claimed it had found £100m in savings, £39.
5m of which come from what it said was two net zero-related projects: £32m by scrapping a programme to make properties more environmentally friendly, and £7,5m by not making the council’s fleet of vehicles electric by 2030,After Kemkaran announced these at a council meeting last July, Polly Billington, a Labour MP in Kent, requested details of the apparent savings via a freedom of information request, setting off a months-long battle with the council,The eventual answer said the two projects were documented in two lines of a “potential capital projects” section of the council’s 2025-26 budget plans, but added they had no business cases or identified funding,Billington said the response showed Kemkaran’s claims about the savings were “a blatant lie”.
“These supposedly cancelled net zero projects never existed, and the fantastical £39.5m savings figure she is spinning is something she completely made up.Billington accused Kemkaran, of trying to claim credit for “fantastical” savings for political reasons.“The reality is that Reform had no plan to deliver savings at Kent county council, and now they’re lying to people rather than admitting their council is in chaos and they’re hiking council tax to cover up their mess.Linden Kemkaran needs to stop peddling these false figures and focus on delivering better services for the people of Kent.
”The council rejected this assessment, saying that while the only detail on the projects was two lines in an appendix to a budget document, and that they had not been approved or made subject to a business case, they were a “future cost‑avoidance measure”, and thus legitimate to claim as a saving,The row comes after one of the Reform councillors charged with finding major savings at the council admitted that the party had not found significant waste when it took over the local authority last year,Paul Chamberlain, who headed Kent’s Elon Musk-style department of local government efficiency, later apologised for a “lapse of judgment” with the comments and stepped down from the role,A Kent spokesperson said: “Kent county council categorically rejects any suggestion of impropriety, fabrication of figures or attempts to mislead,As we have already set out clearly in previous correspondence and our FoI response, the figures referenced relate to forward‑looking assumptions in the published budget book, not approved or designed projects.
“The two items cited were listed in the potential capital projects section – high‑level, unfunded and unapproved possibilities for which no business cases existed.Local authorities routinely include such indicative items in medium‑term planning.The decision not to progress them is therefore a future cost‑avoidance measure, reflecting borrowing and expenditure the council will no longer need to incur.”The Reform leadership in Kent sent a separate statement, saying: “Only in Westminster bubble politics could stopping waste before it happens be spun as dishonesty.Reform prevented bad spending, and we make no apology for it.
“This story is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how public finances work, and a deliberate attempt to mislead readers … Polly Billington’s claim that these projects ‘never existed’ is demonstrably false.”Late last year, Kemkaran appointed a paid political adviser, Michael Hadwen.The move was condemned by the Liberal Democrat group on the council as a waste of money.They also expressed concern at previous social media posts by Hadwen that expressed support for Enoch Powell’s ideas about immigration.
Stephen Colbert: ‘Trump would eat a bicycle tire if you put it on a bun’
On Thursday night, Stephen Colbert responded to White House adviser Paula White-Cain’s claims that Donald Trump is “the GOAT”, while Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers addressed ICE and Jeffrey Epstein.Over on the Late Show, Colbert turned his attention to Trump’s appearance at the national prayer breakfast and his speech at the Washington Hilton hotel. Or as Colbert called the president’s 77-minute address, “special material just for the prayer munchers”.Ahead of his remarks, Trump was introduced by White-Cain, the White House senior adviser who Colbert called a “haunted Bloomingdale’s mannequin”. White-Cain introduced the president as “the GOAT: the greatest of all time”
Aacta awards 2026: horror film Bring Her Back and Jacob Elordi win big at Australian film and TV prizes
Bring Her Back has dominated at the 2026 Aacta (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) awards, winning 10 of 16 nominations, while Jacob Elordi has continued his recent awards buzz by taking home best lead actor for his performance in The Narrow Road to the Deep North.Bring Her Back, Danny and Michael Philippou’s horror-thriller about a sinister foster mother, emerged as the most awarded film of the night with 10 wins. This marks a major milestone for the Adelaide brothers, surpassing the eight awards they won for their 2024 global breakout, Talk to Me.Bring Her Back won best direction, best film, best leading actress in a film for Sally Hawkins and almost every technical category, including cinematography, editing, original score, sound, costume design, hair and makeup, and casting.Fresh from his Critics’ Choice Movie awards win for his portrayal of the Creature in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Elordi won best lead actor in a drama for his portrayal of army surgeon Dorrigo Evans in the screen adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s Booker prize-winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North
‘One of the most stunning sights in the country’: your picks for UK town of culture
From pirates and skateboarders in Hastings to legends and locks in Devizes, from dolphins in Scarborough to the ‘artists’ town’ of Kirkcudbright, readers put forward their favourite placesCulture secretary Lisa Nandy has launched a search for the UK’s first “town of culture”, similar to the city of culture programme, which honoured Bradford last year. After the Guardian’s writers nominated theirs – including Ramsgate in Kent, Falmouth in Cornwall, Abergavenny in Monmouthshire and Portobello in Edinburgh – we asked readers which UK towns they would put forward.Culture in Hastings grows out of the shingle and the wind and the friction between past and present. You can feel it in the fishing fleet hauled up on the beach, still part of daily life, and then a short walk away in bold contemporary spaces showing work that speaks far beyond the town. It shows up in events that belong to the people who live there; Jack in the Green spilling through the streets; Pirate Day turning the whole place into a shared act of play; music competitions that quietly bring international talent into a town that never pretends to be grand
‘It’s an opportunity for bonding’ – my quest to become a Black dad who can do his daughters’ hair
For me – and many other Black men – my experience of hair begins and ends in the barbershop. But as my two daughters get older, I’m determined to make ‘salon night’ pain free – and maybe even enjoyable The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.In the basement of Larry King’s salon in Marylebone, London, stylist and curly hair advocate Jennie Roberts is giving me a much-needed pep talk
Jimmy Kimmel on Trump: ‘We are now at the women-should-smile-more stage of his presidency’
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The Guide #228: Against my better judgment, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has me back in Westeros
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