Greens and Reform Clash over Al Mawasi Link
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN
The simmering tensions between the Green-led Hastings Borough Council (HBC) and Reform UK, the main opposition group, burst to the surface at a prickly meeting of the Full Council on 15 July.
The antipathy between the two parties boiled over after a seemingly innocuous motion to “review” the town’s international twinning and friendship links was tabled by Doreena Ross, the Reform UK Group Leader.
The motion called on the council to set out “guiding principles” for its international partnerships, including “public benefit, transparency, community participation, and good governance.” It also requested a Cabinet report detailing HBC’s role in “all recognised international links, its relationship with the Hastings Association of Twin Towns (HATT), and the rationale for each link and whether they remain the most appropriate arrangements for Hastings today.”
Hastings currently maintains formal twinning arrangements with Dordrecht (Netherlands), Schwerte (Germany), Oudenaarde (Belgium), and Béthune (France), alongside friendship links with Hastings in Sierra Leone and Al-Mawasi in Gaza.
The friendship link with Al-Mawasi has proved to be particularly contentious. It was passed in July 2025 when the then minority-led Green-controlled council voted to twin Hastings with the Gaza town in a move described as showing “solidarity” with Palestine.
Although Reform UK had no councillors at the time, during the recent local election campaign the party issued “Pot Holes not Palestine” leaflets, arguing that HBC should prioritise local matters rather than give a platform to such a divisive foreign policy issue.
The Reform motion stopped short of calling for the link with Al-Mawasi to be severed, instead emphasising “transparency and clarity of purpose” to “help support public awareness, engagement and confidence.”
The motion riled Council Leader Glenn Haffenden. He responded saying “it was clear why we don’t want Reform UK running the council or even the government, because they have a one item agenda which has clearly been shown this evening.”
He went on to say that the “council does not spend any money on the twinning arrangements, nor does it waste council officer resources.” In stark contrast, he said Cllr Ross’ motion “would waste money and vital council resources” ahead of the local government reorganisation when “our officers are going to be so overworked to be able to try and get the best position for Hastings.”
The Reform UK Group Leader was clearly irritated by the comments saying she “found it extraordinary that there was so much defensiveness” from Cllr Haffenden, adding “he was playing politics” with the motion. She insisted that she was “raising the concerns of 8000 people who voted for Reform UK in the recent elections. We had many doorstep conversations, and we continued to have those. I did not bring a party line to this motion, and I take exception to that.”
The meeting agreed to refer the motion to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) for consideration of its inclusion in its 2026/27 Work Programme.
At last Monday’s meeting of the OSC (20 July), it was agreed to set up a sub-committee, chaired by Cllr Ross, and for her to take forward evidence gathering and report back to OSC prior to reporting to Full Council in January.
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