The new Reform UK leadership at Kent County Council (KCC) is under fire after claiming to have removed transgender books from a library’s children’s section.
Cllr Paul Webb, the newly-appointed cabinet member for communities and regulatory services at KCC, announced on X that he acted after concerns from a resident.
He has received unreserved backing from his boss, council leader Cllr Linden Kemkaran, who described his action as a “victory” in a social media posting.
But Antony Hook, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition at County Hall, said making “council policy on Twitter is preposterous”.
In a short 30 second clip, Cllr Webb, who represents Sittingbourne south, tells his followers: “I was recently 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 looked into it and this was the case. I have issued an instruction for them all to be removed from the children’s section of any of our libraries. They do not belong in the children’s section of our libraries.
“Our children do not need to be told they were born in the wrong bodies and from today this will stop.”
It is understood that Cllr Webb does not intend on banning the trans material but to relocate it in the libraries.
Cllr Kemkaran indicated that it would happen across all libraries in the county.
She wrote on X: “Another victory for #commonsenseinKent my brilliant cabinet member Cllr Paul Webb has just got this trans material REMOVED from the children’s section of all Kent libraries. Telling children they’re in the wrong body is wrong and simply unacceptable.”
The book at the heart of the issue is called The Autistic Trans Guide to Life and is described by publishers as an “essential survival guide that gives autistic trans and/or non-binary adults all the tools and strategies they need to live as their very best self.”
Cllr Hook said it “feels like an act of bullying towards a small, vulnerable group of people”.
He added: “It is bizarre that the Leader of the Council is making policy announcements on social media rather than to the council.
“This is especially odd given that the committee which usually deals with library service matters, met only two days ago (July 1).
“The administration could and should have given that committee a report of its intentions to change policies in our libraries.
“That would have enabled their plans to be fully explained in a public meeting and subject to questions and comments by members of the council.”
Cllr Hook said that, as a liberal, he is “against banning books”.
He added: “Information and opinions should be made available, and people can choose what to read and decide what they make of it. I have read many books I disagree with.
“Some books have changed by mind and some have not. This is how we learn, and our minds grow. We risk becoming a narrow-minded society if we limit what individuals choose to read.
“I have written to the professional head of the Kent library service to ask for clarification on what new instructions, if any, have been to library staff.”
Cllr Webb and KCC have been approached for a comment.
