Councillor sanctioned in row over 'sexualisation'

The leader of the Reform UK group at Devon County Council has been told to apologise to council officers and undergo training after raising concerns about "the sexualisation of children".

Reform leader Michael Fife Cook faced a Devon County Council Standards Committee over an email he sent to colleagues raising concerns about the safeguarding of children after a controversial LGBT youth event at Exeter Library.

Fife Cook said the hearing was a "draconian procedure" and suggested council time and resources could be better used in providing essential services.

Devon County Council said safeguarding children was the council's "highest priority".

Complaints about the LGBT Young Person's Day event, which was organised by Out There and Exeter Library, sparked an investigation by Libraries Unlimited, the charity that runs Devon's libraries for the council.

Sex education objects including anatomical models of genitalia appeared at the "family-friendly" event held in October 2025.

The matter was discussed at a full council meeting in which the leader of the council, Liberal Democrat Julian Brazil, said "lessons have been learned".

Two council officers submitted code of conduct complaints relating to an email sent by Fife Cook to other Reform councillors which raised concerns about the council's handling of the issue.

In the email Fife Cook said: "Our council officers can't be trusted in safeguarding children, what consenting adults do with each other in the privacy of their own homes is their concern, but any normal person would look at what was on show at this event and would believe it was not appropriate for young children.

"To me this makes us all complicit in promoting and encouraging sexualisation of children.

"To allow future events like this in property owned by the public will be rightly deemed as reprehensible and we will all be at fault."

The public and the press were excluded from the three-hour Standards Committee meeting on Wednesday despite Fife Cook stating he wanted the hearing to be open to all.

The committee resolved Fife Cook had failed to treat others with courtesy and respect and had brought the council into disrepute.

Fife Cook was cleared of breaching standards after allegations were made relating to bullying, compromising the impartiality of the council and causing the council to breach a statutory duty.

Following the hearing Fife Cook said: "I wonder what the public will take from a standards meeting held in private at County Hall aimed at rebuking a councillor for speaking out about the lack of safeguarding for children.

"Will the public applaud such a draconian procedure or will they wonder if the council's time and money would be better spent working to improve the services provided for all the people of Devon?"

Devon County Council said: "The council's Standards Committee found councillor Michael Fife Cook in breach of Devon County Council's code of conduct on two counts following allegations he made against two council officers.

"The Committee has required him to apologise to the officers and undertake tailored code of conduct training."

In response to the concerns raised by Fife Cook regarding safeguarding, a council spokesman said in a statement: "Safeguarding children and young people is our highest priority."

The statement said the investigation "found no safeguarding breaches at the LGBT Young Person's Day event at Exeter Library in 2025 and no further evidence was presented".

It said the council had "worked with Libraries Unlimited to strengthen arrangements for future events and ensure the highest standards for public events are maintained".

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