The company running the House of Commons nursery and others across London has been criticised for publishing an article on its website praising Reform UK’s conference and claiming anti-immigration protests were “driven by a sense of injustice”.
The article, which was taken down by LEYF nurseries after an approach by the Guardian, was written by its chief executive, June O’Sullivan, after her visit to the party’s conference.
It described the government’s budget as “disastrous”, referred to the “frittering away of taxpayers’ money”, and used the pejorative nickname “Rachel from accounts” to refer to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves.
House of Commons authorities said they would remind the company of its responsibilities as a contractor when it came to public communications.
LEYF (London Early Years Foundation), which runs 43 nurseries across 13 London boroughs and says it is committed to a diverse workforce, published O’Sullivan’s recollections on attending the event under the headline Musings from the Reform Conference.
“There was a buzz of excitement,” she wrote about her arrival, commending the “easy style, humour and confidence” of Reform’s chair, David Bull, who “kept the audience hooked”. Nigel Farage, the party’s leader, was “commanding” and played to the crowd “like a seasoned frontman”, she wrote.
Citing what she described as Reform’s desire to be seen as the “voice of ‘ordinary people’ who feel ignored”, O’Sullivan added that women had been raising concerns about issues including “ideological interference” in education, “where they feel children are being taught values that conflict with their own”.
“These worries underpin Reform’s growing appeal to mothers,” wrote O’Sullivan, who claimed that a “sense of injustice” had fuelled protests outside asylum accommodation, “often led by mothers”.
Protesters outside the Bell hotel in Epping, Essex. Demonstrations this summer outside asylum accommodation were ‘often led by mothers’, O’Sullivan wrote. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
While women have been at the forefront of some of the summer’s protests, the piece did not refer to how far-right activists have been seeking to exploit concern about women’s safety in local communities. In the case of the protests in Epping, Essex, some media coverage and social media heavily promoted the role of mothers, including Orla Minihane, who they did not mention was a Reform UK official and candidate.
O’Sullivan added in her piece: “History shows the political potency of maternal protest – from Belfast to Chechnya to Argentina’s Mothers of the Disappeared.”
She concluded by asking whether Reform “can disrupt”, writing: “The real question is whether Reform can channel the march of the mums into a movement that can govern.”
Concerns about the piece have been expressed by workers at parliament.
The Labour MP Stella Creasy said: “I think there is a reasonable concern that an organisation working with our children needs to think more critically about the evidence and actual policy outcomes it hears at an event like the Reform UK conference.”
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Creasy also suggested O’Sullivan had conflated broader trends about the growing concerns of mothers with specific events, adding: “The ‘march of the mums’ is not Epping.”
She also noted the appearance at the Reform conference – not mentioned in O’Sullivan’s report – of a controversial doctor who used his main-stage speech to air a claim the Covid vaccine had caused cancer in the royal family. “An organisation working so closely with children also needs to think more critically about how it responds to the contents of a conference where anti-vaccination ideals were promoted,” Creasy said.
O’Sullivan said in a statement that part of her responsibility was to remain informed about current affairs and to engage neutrally across the political spectrum. “This is to ensure that we understand the full landscape of all debates and policies which may affect children, families, and the early years sector,” she said.
“My recent presence at the Reform party conference on Friday 5 September was solely to observe and reflect, not to support. I want to be absolutely clear that my attendance at any political party conference should not be interpreted as an endorsement of a single party or its policies and that LEYF’s values remain unchanged.”
A House of Commons spokesperson said: “LEYF is an independent organisation, and its staff are not employed by the House of Commons.
“Any views expressed by the company do not reflect those of the house administration. All contractors are reminded of their responsibilities when it comes to public communications, and we will be speaking to the supplier to reiterate those expectations.”