Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 2h

Tonight! I'll be speaking at @mediacomgold.bsky.social at @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social alongside Jason Gibbins of the BBC and @davidfloydnews.bsky.social of Social Spider on why local journalism matters.

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 15h

Another one falls in Kent.

Reform has suspended county councillor Robert Ford after a complaint was made about him by 'several female members of staff.'

The party said that Cllr Ford refused to engage with the complaints process, so he has had the whip removed pending a disciplinary process.

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 14h

Three have been suspended or lost the whip since being elected 165 days ago.

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 15h

Another one falls in Kent.

Reform has suspended county councillor Robert Ford after a complaint was made about him by 'several female members of staff.'

The party said that Cllr Ford refused to engage with the complaints process, so he has had the whip removed pending a disciplinary process.

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 22h

Looking forward to speaking at this tomorrow!

Dr Rashmee Roshan Lall @rashmee.bsky.social · 22h

Why local #journalism matters. Join @bbcnews.bsky.social Jason Gibbins, Social Spider's @davidfloydnews.bsky.social & @localauthority.news's @edjennings.bsky.social .bsky.social at @mediacomgold.bsky.social @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social . Everyone welcome. Details 👇🏽
www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id...

Why Local Journalism Matters

Real world lessons from and for local journalism

www.gold.ac.uk

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Reposted by Ed Jennings

Darryl @darryl1974.bsky.social · 1d

Forcing people who want to open pubs to pay over the odds to zombie local news outlets to publicise their licence applications does not support pubs, it supports the corporate owners of zombie news outlets.

KentOnline @kentonline.co.uk · 1d

He says the plans would shut local people out of decisions that affect their daily lives...
Full story here: www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/we...

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 1d

I imagine very few entirely, but the sums of money involved are huge. Even a fraction of what they receive would make a massive difference in capacity for digital outlets like us.

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 1d

Curious that the KM believe local people can only know about licensing changes if the KM is paid to feature them as opposed to just, you know, writing about them as news stories.

KentOnline @kentonline.co.uk · 1d

He says the plans would shut local people out of decisions that affect their daily lives...
Full story here: www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/we...

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 7d

Remarkable statement in response from Cllr George Perfect, leader of the Medway Conservative Group on Cllr Lammas' defection.

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 7d

Multiple Conservative councillors in Kent are defecting to Reform today.

Cllr Robbie Lammas in Medway, a former staffer to Richard Holden, has jumped.

Cllr Gary Harding, Cllr David Beattie, Cllr Emma Elliott, and Cllr Aaron Elliott in Gravesham defected en masse this morning in Gravesham.

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 7d

Phenomenal for fans of Mark Reckless' current adventures. A Reform camera apparently glitched and replaced him.. with a walnut.

Will Hayward - Wales Journo @willhaycardiff.bsky.social · 7d

Remember that pic of the Caerphilly Reform candidate which looked edited?

Well I asked Reform UK about it.

Apparently it wasn't edited. The party indicated that the camera "glitched" which happened to "glitch out" of the photo the former UKIP politician and Reform supporter Mark Reckless...

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Reposted by Ed Jennings

Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 19d

"You don’t fight the politics of violence by quibbling with the details. You stamp it into a million pieces! You draw a f*cking line!"

If Keir Starmer won’t even make a moral case against deporting our friends and neighbours, then what is the point of him?

What Do We Have To Lose

If Keir Starmer won’t even make a moral case against deporting our friends and neighbours, then what is the point of him? Plus: some natural borders; and the non-existence of grey, and other letters.

jonn.substack.com

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 21d

Thrilled to be speaking at @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social again next month on why local journalism matters. Come for the PowerPoint, stay for the drinks reception!

Dr Rashmee Roshan Lall @rashmee.bsky.social · 23d

We've got a great line-up of Media Forum discussions at @mediacomgold.bsky.social @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social this autumn. Join us if you can. Everyone is welcome.

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 21d

Can't say I'm hugely surprised to hear this sort of thing from Reform though, but to see the government's response is just to say that the plans are "unfunded" is grim, like that's the fucking problem here. Utterly spineless cowards.

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 21d

Delightful to see the party currently leading in the polls front and centre across the news today, with plans to remove the right to live and work here indefinitely from hundreds of thousands of people, including my own partner. Really lovely way to start the week.

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 23d

Utterly grim.

Reporter abused in ‘disgusting’ toilet paper stunt

A reporter has told how he was abused while covering an asylum protest – with an organiser waving a bag containing used toilet paper at him.

www.kentonline.co.uk

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 25d

No comment 👀

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 25d

The Medway school at the centre of an argument over awarding a Nigel Farage t-shirts to a student winning an essay contest has u-turned and will no longer offer the prize.

They told this to the Daily Mail, which does at least reference our original reporting. What an odd couple of days.

School U-turns on plan to give Reform UK's 'Farage 10' shirt as prize

Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School originally wanted to award the Reform UK shirt as part of an essay-writing competition.

www.dailymail.co.uk

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 25d

Vote on the Lib Dem vaccine motion:

Yes - 73
Abstain - 0
No - 0

Motion passes. And with that, we're done.

We'll have full coverage in the upcoming edition of @kentcurrent.news. Subscribe for free here:

Kent Current | Substack

Independent news for Kent, covering news, politics, culture, and more. Click to read Kent Current, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

www.kentcurrent.news

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 25d

Cllr Brady (Lab) talks about science not being debatable about vaccines. Notes that misinformation about covid vaccines is a problem. Perhaps a thinly veiled jab at KCC leader Kemkaran saying last week that she didn't know whether covid vaccines gave members of the royal family cancer.

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 25d

Reform councillors are falling over themselves to praise the Lib Dems for switching the wording to make it less demanding on action.

Cllr Morton (Ref) says, 'compromise has never been my favourite word, which is probably why I've been married three times.' Goes on to praise vaccines.

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 25d

The final motion is on vaccines by the Lib Dems.

The original version is below, but the motion has been amended ahead of the meeting that seems to have made it more acceptable for everyone.

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 25d

Vote on the Green motion:

Yes - 20
Abstain - 3
No - 50

The motion is defeated.

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 25d

Cllr Hook (LDem) says he supports the motion and that it is 'eminently sensible.'

Cllr Henderson (Ref) makes a speech about weeds that seems to be missing about half of the sentences given how abruptly it starts and finishes.

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Ed Jennings @edjennings.bsky.social · 25d

Cllr Hood (Grn) says he's surprised that Reform is against the motion as it saves money and has been successfully adopted by Mid Sussex District Council.

Cllr Nolan (Lab) says she can't see what there is to oppose if Reform says everything proposed is being done anyway.

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