Council committee clears Reform leader over "confidential" rape case disclosure

Warwickshire County Council’s leader, George Finch, published the names, ages and the immigration status of two individuals charged with the crime in a post to X ahead of court proceedings.

The Reform UK leader’s post called on the Home Secretary and the Warwickshire Police to release the details in the interest of transparency and “ensuring public order”.

Claire Ward of Anthony Collins Solicitors was called in to conduct an independent investigation, after the council received complaints about the posts.

A report considered by the council's Hearing Sub-Committee last week, which summarised her findings, stated that Ward found a breach because the information had been shared with the leader in confidence and remained confidential.

He did not have permission to publish the information, and there was no justification in the public interest for publishing it in the way he did, given the breadth of the disclosure and its timing, her report also found.

Ward made this finding despite Cllr Finch highlighting that the information had already been published by a local paper, Warwickshire World, and the Mail Online.

On this point, Cllr Finch argued that publication was justified because his post included information that was already in the public domain.

He stated that he had been provided with additional sensitive information about the issue that he had not disclosed, and that, as leader, he was facing serious questions about what he was doing.

He also alleged the police were not providing the community with the information which they needed, and said he believed that the situation was "calmed" by releasing the information.

However, Ward said the information remained confidential because what had been published was not from an “authoritative source” and so the information was not “properly” in the public domain.

She also acknowledged Cllr Finch's rights under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, stating: "Recognising the enhanced protection afforded to political expression, a finding was justified because of the harm disclosure could cause".

Her report found no evidence to suggest that publishing the information had a detrimental impact on the criminal proceedings.

Despite Ward’s findings, members ultimately found that the information published by Cllr Finch was "no longer confidential" at the time he published it, because it had lost the quality of confidence by virtue of news coverage in local and national media.

In a statement following the decision, Cllr Finch said his comments "were made in the public interest", adding that standards investigations should not be "weaponised" for political reasons.

He said: "I have always accepted that politics is rough and tumble and I will always give as good as I get. But I will never be frightened into silence when I believe there are serious questions that need to be asked on behalf of the public.

"But there must be a clear distinction between disagreement and misconduct. The standards process should not be weaponised simply because someone dislikes a political argument or point of view. It's a waste of tax payers money and it needs to be stopped."

Simon Goacher of Weightmans acted as a legal advisor for the case.

Adam Carey