Overview

• County leader Mick Barton has ordered Reform councillors to withhold interviews, press releases and event invitations from Nottinghamshire Live and its BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporting Service team.
• Council officials say affected reporters retain the right to attend public meetings despite being excluded from routine communications.
• The move followed coverage reporting that Reform councillors could face suspension if they defied Barton's preferred model for council reorganisation.
• Reform deputy leader Richard Tice defended the policy and the national party declined to overturn it, saying engagement choices rest with the local group.
• Criticism has widened with more than 20,000 petition signatures, condemnations from the NUJ and Nottinghamshire Live’s editor, and fresh calls from Labour figures for Farage to reverse the ban.