[GUEST ACCESS MODE: Data is scrambled or limited to provide examples. Make requests using your API key to unlock full data. Check https://lunarcrush.ai/auth for authentication information.]  Darren Grimes [@darrengrimes_](/creator/twitter/darrengrimes_) on x 458.6K followers Created: 2025-07-16 12:16:11 UTC 🚨 BREAKING: REFORM DEFEATS ECO-COALITION TO PUT DURHAM’S KIDS FIRST Historic Vote Scraps Net Zero Obsession as Labour-Lib Dem Alliance Crumbles In extraordinary scenes at Durham County Council today, Reform UK councillors defeated an unholy alliance of Labour and Liberal Democrat members who tried to block emergency funding for vulnerable children in favour of their net zero vanity project. The historic vote saw Reform’s motion to scrap the council’s economically suicidal “net zero by 2030” target pass despite desperate attempts by the eco-coalition to protect their virtue-signalling agenda while Durham’s care system burns. Deputy Council Leader Darren Grimes, who proposed the landmark motion, said: “Today, common sense defeated consensus. Labour and the Lib Dems showed their true colours – they’d rather chase impossible green dreams than protect our most vulnerable children. They formed a coalition against our kids. Reform stood firm, and we won.” The vote came as shocking figures revealed Durham’s care crisis has reached catastrophic levels: - XXX children per XXXXXX in care – nearly double the national average - SEND spending exploded from £58.5m to £115.4m in just seven years - Cumulative deficit set to hit £114 MILLION by 2029 - One in five Durham children now require special educational support **Meanwhile, the scrapped net zero target would have:** - Cost residents billions in higher taxes and energy bills - Achieved a meaningless 0.003°C reduction in global temperatures - Required electric bin lorries costing THREE TIMES more than diesel - Funded consultants and solar panels with decade-long paybacks “The choice was stark,” Grimes continued. “Windmills or wheelchairs. Carbon targets or care homes. Labour and the Lib Dems chose wrong. Reform chose our children.” The defeated coalition’s hypocrisy was laid bare when they couldn’t answer basic questions about their climate policy – echoing Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s embarrassing failure in Parliament this week to explain net zero’s cost, who pays, or what difference it makes. Reform’s successful motion will: - REMOVE the unachievable and ruinous “net zero by 2030” target - DECLARE a County Durham Care Emergency - REDIRECT all climate spending to children’s services - DEMAND fair funding from Westminster for SEND provision - PROTECT frontline services from bankruptcy Council sources report Labour and Lib Dem members were “shell-shocked” by the defeat, with one describing scenes of “panic” as their green alliance crumbled under pressure from Reform’s common-sense approach. “They thought they could gang up to protect their eco-fantasies while our kids suffer,” said a Reform spokesperson. “They thought wrong. The days of putting global gestures before local families are over.” The National Audit Office recently warned that the SEND system is “financially unsustainable,” with XX% of councils facing bankruptcy when government accounting tricks expire in XX months. Durham was heading straight for this cliff edge until today’s vote. Reform is now calling on other North East councils to follow Durham’s lead and declare Care Emergencies, creating a united regional front to demand proper funding for vulnerable children instead of wasting billions on futile climate measures. “This is just the beginning,” Grimes warned. “Every council still clinging to net zero madness while children go without support should be ashamed. Reform will take this fight to every chamber, every community, until common sense prevails.” Today’s vote marks a watershed moment: the first time a major UK council has explicitly chosen children’s services over climate posturing. With Reform’s popularity surging nationally, expect more councils to follow Durham’s lead. The people have spoken. The coalition of virtue-signallers has fallen. Our children come first. ### ENDS XXXXXX engagements  [Post Link](https://x.com/darrengrimes_/status/1945457431066161245)
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Darren Grimes @darrengrimes_ on x 458.6K followers
Created: 2025-07-16 12:16:11 UTC
🚨 BREAKING: REFORM DEFEATS ECO-COALITION TO PUT DURHAM’S KIDS FIRST
Historic Vote Scraps Net Zero Obsession as Labour-Lib Dem Alliance Crumbles
In extraordinary scenes at Durham County Council today, Reform UK councillors defeated an unholy alliance of Labour and Liberal Democrat members who tried to block emergency funding for vulnerable children in favour of their net zero vanity project.
The historic vote saw Reform’s motion to scrap the council’s economically suicidal “net zero by 2030” target pass despite desperate attempts by the eco-coalition to protect their virtue-signalling agenda while Durham’s care system burns.
Deputy Council Leader Darren Grimes, who proposed the landmark motion, said: “Today, common sense defeated consensus. Labour and the Lib Dems showed their true colours – they’d rather chase impossible green dreams than protect our most vulnerable children. They formed a coalition against our kids. Reform stood firm, and we won.”
The vote came as shocking figures revealed Durham’s care crisis has reached catastrophic levels:
- XXX children per XXXXXX in care – nearly double the national average
- SEND spending exploded from ÂŁ58.5m to ÂŁ115.4m in just seven years
- Cumulative deficit set to hit ÂŁ114 MILLION by 2029
- One in five Durham children now require special educational support
Meanwhile, the scrapped net zero target would have:
- Cost residents billions in higher taxes and energy bills
- Achieved a meaningless 0.003°C reduction in global temperatures
- Required electric bin lorries costing THREE TIMES more than diesel
- Funded consultants and solar panels with decade-long paybacks
“The choice was stark,” Grimes continued. “Windmills or wheelchairs. Carbon targets or care homes. Labour and the Lib Dems chose wrong. Reform chose our children.”
The defeated coalition’s hypocrisy was laid bare when they couldn’t answer basic questions about their climate policy – echoing Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s embarrassing failure in Parliament this week to explain net zero’s cost, who pays, or what difference it makes.
Reform’s successful motion will:
- REMOVE the unachievable and ruinous “net zero by 2030” target
- DECLARE a County Durham Care Emergency
- REDIRECT all climate spending to children’s services
- DEMAND fair funding from Westminster for SEND provision
- PROTECT frontline services from bankruptcy
Council sources report Labour and Lib Dem members were “shell-shocked” by the defeat, with one describing scenes of “panic” as their green alliance crumbled under pressure from Reform’s common-sense approach.
“They thought they could gang up to protect their eco-fantasies while our kids suffer,” said a Reform spokesperson. “They thought wrong. The days of putting global gestures before local families are over.”
The National Audit Office recently warned that the SEND system is “financially unsustainable,” with XX% of councils facing bankruptcy when government accounting tricks expire in XX months. Durham was heading straight for this cliff edge until today’s vote.
Reform is now calling on other North East councils to follow Durham’s lead and declare Care Emergencies, creating a united regional front to demand proper funding for vulnerable children instead of wasting billions on futile climate measures.
“This is just the beginning,” Grimes warned. “Every council still clinging to net zero madness while children go without support should be ashamed. Reform will take this fight to every chamber, every community, until common sense prevails.”
Today’s vote marks a watershed moment: the first time a major UK council has explicitly chosen children’s services over climate posturing. With Reform’s popularity surging nationally, expect more councils to follow Durham’s lead.
The people have spoken. The coalition of virtue-signallers has fallen. Our children come first.
ENDS
XXXXXX engagements
