Reform UK bans local branches from organising on social media amid fears of far-right infiltration
Reform UK has introduced new rules that will block its local branches from organising political events on social media amid fears of potential far-right infiltration.
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The new rules, introduced last month, have introduced limits on social media usage of regional branches, according to The Times.
It states that branch officers "are not permitted to use social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, etc, to communicate party and branch operations and activities to members and/or supporters". Officers should, instead, communicate through emails and branch meetings.
Numerous local branches engage with potential members via Facebook groups and over WhatsApp.
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Branch officers will have to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and they won't be allowed to open their own bank accounts.
The national party now has sweeping powers to override the rules and suspend party members.
It has introduced the new guidance to prevent members of the far-right from attending events, according to sources familiar with the rules.
The party has been able to suspend or expel members if they bring Reform UK into disrepute "by association with, or membership of, any organisation which the board has declared to be incompatible with membership of the party".
This has been updated to include "association with any individual … whether public or private".
Candidates have previously been suspended for being members of Britain First, but Reform has stopped short of banning people for associating with Tommy Robinson.
Luke Akehurst, Labour MP and a member of the party’s national executive committee, said: "These very draconian rules show far more central command control than any of the existing mainstream British political parties.
"This degree of control freakery over minutiae of local organising suggests a fundamentally undemocratic mindset, a lack of appreciation of need for local variation according to circumstances, and a complete lack of trust in their grassroots membership by the party HQ."