By Local Democracy Reporter Simon Finlay
The leader of Kent County Council (KCC) has condemned as an “outright lie” comments made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in her pre-budget speech this morning.
Cllr Linden Kemkaran was furious at Rachel Reeves’ assertions that the Reform UK-led authority was unable to find any savings and would increase council tax for millions.
Mrs Reeves took a swipe at Nigel Farage’s outfit during a 30 minute speech to the media this morning, believed to be a prelude to tax rises for millions in her budget on November 26.
She said: “Reform who promised savings from our public services and yet in Kent County Council and councils they run across Britain, apparently can’t find a single penny and instead are going to increase council tax for two million people.”
Cllr Kemkaran said: “It was an outright lie about Kent County Council. I was shocked to be honest.
“This was the Chancellor of the Exchequer – she has got a budget to deliver in just a few weeks time and instead of focusing on the job in hand she is trying to deflect from her own shortcomings by what is going on at KCC.
“I mean, I have never heard anything like it.”
Reform UK claims to have identified millions of pounds in savings across the board, including scrapping Net Zero commitments, making home-to-school transport more efficient and dropping the sale of Sessions House where KCC is headquartered.
Cllr Kemkaran, who represents the Maidstone south east division, said she has “absolutely zero confidence” in the Labour government or Mrs Reeves being able to “string together a coherent budget”.
The leader added: “We are struggling in local authorities and everybody is saying the same thing. I think that the government is absolutely terrified of Reform UK, and I think that’s why they referenced KCC. They can see that under Reform UK we are turning things round.”
Cllr Kemkaran’s comments come after more than two weeks of headlines which stemmed from a leaked video of her swearing and raising her voice to members during a virtual meeting.
Five councillors – Cllrs Paul Thomas, Brian Black, Bill Barrett, Robert Ford and Olver Bradshaw – have been thrown out of the party for allegedly bringing it into disrepute.
Cllrs Barrett and Ford have started a breakaway movement called Independent Reformers but the other three have decided to dissociate themselves from it.
East Thanet MP Polly Billington said: “If Linden Kemkaran wants to prove she wasn’t lying about the savings Reform UK has made at KCC, she could answer my Freedom of Information request about her alleged savings on net zero projects – now 55 days beyond the lawful deadline and counting.
“Kent County Council has openly admitted to me that the projects she says she cut never existed, can’t provide any documentation for them, and can’t answer my request properly because the Council Leader’s office isn’t providing them with the information they need. Taxpayers in Kent deserve better than Reform UK’s chaos and lies.”
Two squabbling women hitting each other with their handbags. Not a classy look!
Stupid childish comment. Mr C.
Q. How can you tell if a politician is lying?
A. When they open their mouths.
Well, Ms Kamkaren: by how much will KCC’s council tax rise?
Let’s hope she sorts out the proper licensing for the house she’s renting… oops, that was Rachel from accounts.
They’re both dreadful women.
No PC, they have just lost thr plot.
Years of not facing the future, insisting on tax cuts when we are borrowing money,having an unequal society, where a minority fret about tax rates and inheritence tax, with majority facing hard times and the poorest using food banks and living in damp housing.
If we don’t balance expenditure with income, the bond markets go ahead, as they did with Truss and Trump.
If you can’t increase income tax, N.I.,or VAT, you end up inventing new taxes.
Some here will blame benefits,but the biggest benefit paid is pensions and sometimes along tge line tge triple lock will have to cease.
Kemkaran is doing just what she did online and is hopping up and down in fake fury.
Your beloved Labour party can’t even bring itself to have a female and/or racial minority leader… yet the Conservatives have produced three female prime ministers, as well as an Asian male PM – and we may well have a black female PM after the next election. Yet you claim to care about women in politics.
An interesting point Checksfield, yes the Conservatives did elect 3 female Prime Ministers, and sacked all three in office! Thatcher went mad, Theresa May was incompetant, and Liz Truss well, she was mad to begin with! Now they have elected another lady leader, we can only hope she doesn’t become Prime Minister because the signs are she won’t last long if prevuous history is anything to go by!
Margaret Thatcher was PM for 11 years, 209 days – the longest serving of any PM since Robert Jenkinson in 1812-1826!
They are both over promoted ,power hungry people , who are thick as mince and awful .
I don’t think they are stupid.Reeves,is a technocrat and unable to think outside treasury dogma,and Kemkaran is over matched for leading KCC.
I don’t think it helps to characterise them like that. Show me a politician and I will show you someone who believes they are the only one with the answers.
They are dense at best
Aneurin Beven
Clement Attlea. ?? The ones with answers and leadership , great orators quality, oh and not thick
You want PC to respond? He’s not the sharpest tool in the box.
Just a tool.
She should take her own advice and “suck it up” focus on her own issues and maybe show us what “reform” looks like.
“never heard anything like it” she should listen to her great leader he comes out with far worse seemingly hourly.
The more we hear from this “leader” the more she proves the voters made a huge error trusting reform.
You gone off them again? Your political views change like the weather!
You can’t read. I said Labour were the best of the three and they hadn’t been ideal!
I’ve never had a positive thought about this lot. There is my fan that copied my name so maybe it was them.
A likely story.
So she says Reeves is lying yet Reform have not announced what the savings are…and knowing how bombastic they are, they would be banging their own drum for weeks if they gad found any savings.
They just a bunch of nostalgics, always yearning for the green and pleasant land they never worked for.
Daffodil Holly – having stupidly watched Mrs Reeves appalling presentation on TV yesterday morning, I despair. Biggest load of old tosh ever and presented by someone obviously out of her depth. Her presentation skills are extremely poor. This government are in a nose dive with no chance of recovery. Why not just come out with truth that she will break her so called promise and raise taxes, but no! Side steps every challenge.
Cmon, you’ve had years of watching Johnson, Bravermann, Truss and co and you claim she is out of her depth.
Labour were always on a hiding to nothing and would never have been able to fix the mess in the first couple of years.
No one can repair the damage they’ve done over the last decade, even Nigel is back peddling and panicking because he realises talk is cheap and it far worse than the Tories made out
Not impressed – I go back to 1960’s when I was able to vote and therefore history proves my point. EVERY LABOUR Government since then has been a total disaster. They had fourteen years in opposition to prepare for the day they form a government. In less than eighteen months they have become unelectable yet again. By failing to learn! I suggest you read up on politics 60’s onwards and learn.
I suggest you don’t just read the daily mail. So the Tories and the history of Tory government makes them electable? Do you ever question why you believe that to be true? Do you question why you believe Labour have made mistakes that make them unelectable in just over a year?
I’m not a fan of Labour, but I very much not a fan of ridiculous narratives….. let me guess you think Farage is the answer?
You really believe that Labour have any chance of winning the next election? Their only faint hope is that Conservatives and Reform divide the vote to the right, though chances are the rise of the Lib-Dems will counteract that.
Oh, and before you ask: my choice of newspapers tends to be The Telegraph and The Guardian (and occasionally The Independent). Those who stick to just one newspaper are generally only getting the point of view they’re looking for.
Not Impressed – you have no idea of my reading habits but suffice to say, it’s not wholly Daily Mail. I do not need to question why Labour are unelectable after eighteen months as its fact widely reported and reinforced by election results. I never mentioned Conservative Party being electable? I suggest you look at facts and understand a post before commenting.