Police report over Reform councillor's Pride email

A Reform UK councillor has been reported to police over comments labelled as "transphobic" by Warwickshire Pride.

The complaint over Warwickshire county councillor Wayne Briggs followed comments in a leaked email containing his objections to flying the Pride Flag outside the council's Shire Hall headquarters.

In his message, Briggs described Pride, which celebrates LGBT+ identity and equal rights, as "dangerous ideology".

The councillor, who oversees the authority's portfolio for children, families, education and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), told the BBC the comments were meant to be private but he stood by them and would not apologise.

A Warwickshire Police spokesperson confirmed the force had a record of the complaint and planned to gather more details.

In the email, Briggs wrote: "This movement has been hijacked by groomers and mentally ill men in dresses gyrating in front of children and pushing a delusion that you can somehow change from male to female and vice versa if you're unhappy with your own body."

Responding to the leak, he said: "I stand by the concerns I raised and will not be offering an apology.

"I believe there are serious and legitimate questions about political neutrality in council buildings and the importance of protecting children and maintaining parental confidence.

"However, I fully accept that if I were speaking publicly as a portfolio holder or issuing a formal statement on behalf of the council, I would use different language."

Briggs' leaked email was sent to the council's chairman, Conservative councillor Dale Keeling, who has the final say on which flags can be flown outside the council building.

A spokesperson for Warwickshire Pride called for Briggs to apologise and resign, labelling him "unfit for the role he currently holds".

"Councillor Briggs is clearly being transphobic in his email. It is hate speech," they added.

"From a sitting councillor, this is completely unacceptable, a clear breach of the code of conduct and principles of public life and a hate crime that must be dealt with."

The Crown Prosecution Service's prosecution guidance on transphobic hate crime says that "an offence is committed if a person uses threatening words or behaviour, or displays any written material, which is threatening, if he intends thereby to stir up hatred."

The guidance adds that "threatening is the operative word, not abusive or insulting".

Reform's county council leader, George Finch, said the email was "a personal view in private correspondence" and "not an agreed statement of Warwickshire County Council or the administration".

He also gave Briggs his backing to remain in post and said: "Cabinet positions will not be determined by online pressure or trial by social media.

"Councillor Briggs has my confidence to continue in his role. He is a hardworking councillor who cares deeply about children and families across Warwickshire."

Finch himself is the subject of a complaint by Warwickshire Pride, in his case a code of conduct complaint, after he said books containing "contested gender ideology" should not be promoted in libraries in the county.

Later referencing material featuring transgender issues, he said libraries should "not seek to embolden political ideologies", which he said were "highly charged and polarising", saying they should not be "taught to children as pure fact".

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