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A £75,000 scheme by a Reform-led council to hang union flags at sites across the county, which the party said would “not cost the taxpayer a single penny” as it would be sponsored by local businesses, has failed to attract a single sponsor, it has emerged.
The plan to attach the flags to brackets on about 180 lamp-posts and other places was agreed in the autumn by Nottinghamshire’s council, won by Nigel Farage’s party in last year’s May elections.
A report by the authority justified the £75,000 cost as a way to “enhance civic pride”, saying the national flag was “seen as embodying national unity and the collective values of all the peoples and communities of the United Kingdom”.
After some criticism of the scheme and its cost, in December last year Lee Anderson, the Reform MP whose Ashfield seat is in the county and who is close to the council’s leader, Mick Barton, posted a video to social media.
Filming himself in Ashfield at one of the flag sites, along with Barton and James Walker-Gurley, another Nottinghamshire council cabinet member, Anderson said: “There’s been a few people moaning about these in … the usual third-rate media outlets, saying it’s cost £75,000 and it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money.”
He went on: “Let me tell you: yes, it has cost £75,000 to put these up all throughout Nottinghamshire, but the good news is, it will not cost the taxpayer a single penny because we want to get these sponsored by local businesses.
“They’re going to pay for the fitting, the upkeep and the maintenance. And guess what: we’re actually going to make a profit on these … The people who are spouting this nonsense about its costing us a fortune – it’s not costing you a single penny.”
A Nottinghamshire council spokesperson said that, seven months later, no sponsors had been found, with the council paying for the scheme.
The council has also attracted other controversy since Reform took control, notably a row over its ban on speaking to journalists from the area’s biggest local newspaper, which ended only after a threat of legal action.
Reform councils often take a strong view on flags, with the party having said its policy is to fly only the union flag, St George’s flag and relevant county or local emblems. This means they no longer fly Ukrainian flags as a show of solidarity, a decision that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, has lamented.
He told the Guardian in June: “I don’t want to be involved in any political things, but you know, the world is so sensitive today. Sometimes little, small mistakes can break big friendship or huge contacts.”
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The Nottinghamshire document agreeing the flag scheme said the brackets would additionally be used to hang banners informing people about local services. In his video, Anderson said they would also be used to advertise for foster carers and kinship carers.
Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader, said: “Turns out 30p Lee is more like £75k Lee when it comes to spending taxpayers’ money.
“If this is how they’re handling council finances, it’s no wonder Reform have copied the Trumpian playbook and barred local journalists from being able to scrutinise them.”
Anderson was contacted for comment.
