Volunteer says Reform councillor likened her to a 'Nazi collaborator' for teaching asylum seekers English
politicsOct 28, 202616109
At a Wethersfield parish council meeting on 14 October, volunteer Mair Godley, 78, says Reform UK councillor Carl Johnson accused her of "facilitating the invasion" by teaching asylum seekers English and likened her to a Nazi collaborator from the second world war. The meeting, called to discuss local issues including potholes and "Operation Vanguard" private security patrols, turned heated after Godley’s husband Nick challenged the need for the patrols and raised crime figures for nearby Braintree. According to draft minutes seen by the Guardian, Johnson asked whether anyone was helping migrants at the Wethersfield site and then made the remarks about Godley, and was later asked to leave the meeting to restore order. Johnson had posted on Facebook the week before that people who enter the country "illegally" receive free clothing and accommodation and that the country was "actively facilitate[ing] its own invasion and population replacement." Nick Godley has lodged a formal complaint with Essex county council; the council said it comments on complaints only after investigation, and Reform UK and Johnson have not responded to requests for comment. Reform took control of Essex county council in May 2026, ending 25 years of Conservative control, and Wethersfield is one of two former military sites where the Home Office houses hundreds of asylum seekers.
