Reform councillor blasts council for probing his 'false' comments

A REFORM councillor has blasted a Nottinghamshire council for spending more than £19,000 to investigate comments he made about its involvement with asylum seekers.

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Councillor Fraser McFarland, leader of the opposition on Bassetlaw District Council, was placed under investigation after speaking about asylum seekers who were being moved from the controversial Bibby Stockholm barge last year. The then-Conservative councillor took part in an interview with GB News in which he claimed residents of the barge had been housed in Bassetlaw and prioritised over locals. At the time, the council said it had no contact with any agencies about asylum seekers being housed in Worksop and that it was not involved in securing them temporary accommodation.

An email from the council's chief executive confirmed that the authority was involved in securing longer-term accommodation for those given leave to remain, as the council had a legal duty to do.