Reform declares DOGE-style ban of trans books from kids’s library | Politics | News | EUROtoday

A Reform-run council has sparked controversy after banning  transgender-related books from the kids’s sections of its libraries — a transfer hailed by leaders as “a victory for common sense in Kent.”

Linden Kemkaran, chief of Kent County Council, introduced the choice on social media, declaring: “Telling children they’re in the ‘wrong body’ is wrong and simply unacceptable.” She confirmed the books could be eliminated instantly, studies The Times.

Kemkaran posted a picture of The Autistic Trans Guide to Life, which appeared in a Pride Month show at Herne Bay Library. Some native residents identified on-line that the show was positioned within the welcome space of the library, not the kids’s part.

The order to take away the books got here from Reform councillor Paul Webb. In a video assertion, Webb mentioned: “I was contacted by a concerned member of the public who found trans ideological material and books in the children’s section of one of our libraries. I’ve today issued an instruction for all of it to be removed… Our children do not need to be told they were born in the wrong bodies. From today, this will stop.”

Reform UK took management of Kent County Council in May’s native elections. Since then, Kemkaran has refused to fly the rainbow flag for Pride and beforehand branded the Ukrainian flag within the council chamber a “distraction.” The council has additionally launched a Musk-inspired “Doge” cost-cutting marketing campaign, reportedly backed by former Reform chairman Zia Yusuf.

Kent Country Council have been contacted for remark.

Antony Hook, Liberal Democrat opposition chief on the council, referred to as the transfer “bizarre,” criticising Reform for saying it on social media somewhat than at a council assembly. He has requested a listing of titles earmarked for removing from Kent’s head of libraries.

Labour MP for Chatham & Aylesford, Tristan Osborne, condemned the choice as “unedifying baiting of the LGBT community.”

Defending the motion, Webb informed the BBC: “In our society, children are quite rightly and properly protected from items and actions that could cause them harm — for example alcohol, cigarettes and gambling. My fellow Reform members and I believe that our young people should be protected from exposure to potentially harmful ideologies and beliefs such as those held by the trans lobbyists.”

He added: “As far as impact assessments are concerned, I would have thought that question should have been asked before these books were placed in the children’s section to begin with.”

Kent County Council oversees 99 group libraries and operates 5 cellular vans. It isn’t but confirmed whether or not the coverage will lengthen to neighbouring Medway Council, with which it shares sure companies.