Reform councillor spreads fake news about Palestinian flag

Martin Shipton

A recently appointed Reform UK community councillor has spread a false allegation that Plaid Cymru-controlled Carmarthenshire County Council was flying the Palestinian flag in preference to the Union Jack.

In June 2025 Scott Bayes was co-opted on to Llangunnor Community Council by other councillors. As there were a number of vacant council seats, the public did not have the opportunity to vote, and Mr Bayes was elected unopposed.

The village is close to Carmarthen and includes Dyfed-Powys police headquarters.

In a statement posted on Facebook while he was waiting to see if he would be co-opted, Mr Bayes stated: “I’ve put myself forward to be co-opted onto Llangunnor Community Council, with the final decision being made on June 19.

“There’ve been five vacant seats on the council for a while now, and I wanted to do my bit and get involved - help bring a fresh voice to the table and make sure our community is properly represented.

“I live here in Llangunnor, and at 22, I’d be bringing some much-needed youthful energy to a council that (let’s be honest) could use a few fresh faces!

“If I’m co-opted, I’ll be ready to listen, learn, and be a point of contact for anyone who wants to raise local concerns, share ideas, or just have a chat.”

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Nodded through

Mr Bayes did not mention that he was a member of Reform UK, and his co-option was nodded through.

Two months later, on August 18, he posted another message to Facebook in which he made no secret of the fact that he was a Reform UK member.

He wrote: “Carmarthenshire County Council have taken down the British flag to fly the Palestinian flag! (The British flag only went up for VJ Day).

“The only flags that should be flown on council buildings in Wales are the council flag, the British flag and the Welsh flag!!

“Let’s put up the British and Welsh flags right across Carmarthenshire!

“I am LIVID.

“If it remains up, I will be organising a peaceful protest at County Hall. This isn’t on.This is Britain.”

He later added an update: “The Palestine flag has now been taken down. Picture was taken at 17.45. Noticed it had been taken down at 19.10.”

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Taken down

However, Mr Bayes was entirely wrong in stating that the flag had been put up by the county council. A spokesperson for Carmarthenshire County Council said: “The council is aware that a Palestine flag was raised at County Hall for a short period of time last night, without the Council’s knowledge or consent. It was taken down as soon as it was spotted by our facilities team.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is a fervent supporter of Israel and its military action in Gaza.

He has denied there is a genocide ongoing in Gaza – and said he would not block any weapons exports to Israel if Reform UK came to power.

Mr Farage has also spoken in favour of US president Donald Trump’s plans for the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip, which Israel’s government is looking to move forward.

Writing for GB News in 2024 after Labour suspended around 10% of the UK’s weapon export licences to Israel amid fears that the Jewish state was breaching international law, Mr Farage said: “I feel all over the world that Israel is running out of friends. And I wonder right now, is Israel still really an ally of this country?”

Asked about these comments and to outline his foreign policy on Israel and Palestine, the Reform UK leader said: “It wasn't whether Israel was an ally of the UK, it's whether the UK was an ally of Israel …

“My question then was, are we really an ally of Israel's any more?

“I know that, since then, things have deteriorated and even some of Israel's strongest friends in the world are asking some quite serious questions.”

Violence

But asked if he were Prime Minister whether he would label Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide” or suspend weapons licences, Farage said: “No, I wouldn't. I think we have to get back to the fundamental fact that what happened on October 7 [2023] was the most appalling violence committed by an organisation who said they will do it again and again and again.”

Since the Hamas attacks of October 7, Israel has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. The military siege and offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the population.