COUNCILLORS have taken to social media to call out Reform UK leader Nigel Farage after he called Worcestershire ‘a total basket case’ over its financial situation.
Worcestershire County Council recently warned it was facing ‘effective bankruptcy’ and got permission from the government to raise council tax by nine per cent from April.
This prompted Coun David Taylor, who represents Redditch East and was the deputy leader of Worcestershire, to leave Reform over the weekend. He said while he did support a rise while serving in the cabinet, he would not have backed the elevated and ‘unaffordable’ level requested.
At a Reform event in Birmingham on Monday, Mr Farage was asked what he would say to voters who felt let down in places like Worcestershire, where there were plans to raise council tax by up to 10 per cent.
Responding to the question, Mr Farage said: “Worcestershire is a total basket case, you know that, I know that, it’s on the edge of bankruptcy – we are not in majority control in Worcestershire, so I take that out of the equation.”
Speaking generally on election promises, Mr Farage added never once did he say Reform would cut council tax.
Conservative councillor Seb James said he was ‘appalled’ the leader of a political party would that his county was a basket case.
Worcester City Councillor Ed Kimberley also took to Facebook, where he called Mr Farage’s comments a breathtaking act of political cowardice.
Last week, Farage’s deputy, Richard Tice, joined Worcestershire leader Coun Jo Monk at a press conference in Worcester where he claimed the authority’s cash problems were the most ‘dire’ of any Reform-controlled council in the country.
Council documents have shown the remaining budget gap heading into the 2026/27 financial year was £74.3million.
Bosses have applied for £71.9million of Exceptional Finance Support from the government help plug this gap.
Coun Monk said if these measures were not passed, they will be unable to balance the 2026/27 budget and would have to issue a section 114 notice, declaring itself effectively bankrupt.
Coun Monk also blamed the previous Conservative administration for the position the authority was in and claimed that Reform was taking responsibility for the ‘mess’ that had been left.
Coun Monk previously served as a Conservative on Worcestershire County Council, but claimed, as a backbencher, she was unaware of the scale of the situation until recent months.
However, several Conservative members have since responded to these claims.
Taking to Facebook, Conservative Group Leader, Coun Adam Kent, said that anyone stepping into local government quickly discovers the scale of pressures councils were facing, but that the council faced a ‘significant overspend’ since May, when Reform came to power.
