'We will not abandon our principles': Durham Miners in angry spat with Reform councillor

The organisers behind the 139th Gala have spoken up over a dispute which concerns Reform UK councillors not being given an invite to the event’s platform.

‘Everyone is welcome at the Gala’

A statement from the Durham Miners Association (DMA) said that ‘everyone in Durham’ was welcome at the Gala.

It added: “But we invite on to the platform, and as guests at the DMA’s social events, some of our many friends who share our beliefs in community, in the labour movement and in social justice. The Reform UK councillors do not.”

But Cllr Darren Grimes, who is the deputy leader of Durham County Council and a Reform UK councillor, hit back in his own statement recently which was headlined: ‘From Big Meeting to bitter meeting: Labour's Durham demise.’

‘You'll find pit villages and colliery rows in Reform's family trees’

He said: “You'll find pit villages and colliery rows in Reform's family trees.’

Cllr Grimes added: “The Durham Miners' Gala has become what it was always destined to become: a historical re-enactment society for people who think the problem with modern Britain is that we don't have enough Net Zero officers.

“Meanwhile, actual Durham voters - the ones whose grandfathers really did go down the pit - have delivered their verdict. The red flag may still fly at the gala. Shame it's been vaporised at the ballot box,” he added.

Hosting the Gala since 1871

Cllr Grimes had previously spoken out about the DMA's decision as the grandson of a Durham miner.

But the DMA said that while everyone was welcome at the Gala, Reform councillors did not share their beliefs ‘in community, in the labour movement and in social justice.

“We have not and will not abandon our principles,” it added.

Durham Miners Association (DMA) has hosted the Gala since 1871, and this year’s event will be held on Saturday, July 12.