Reform council deputy admits post image was AI

A council's deputy leader has admitted to using an AI-generated photo in a post about other local authorities "shipping" families to the region.

On 23 February, Durham County Council's Darren Grimes posted a blog he had written in which he said southern councils were moving "problem tenants, recent refugees and homeless families" to the region. He linked the issue to Durham's social housing waiting list.

The article used a photo of a group of South Asian men in tracksuits next to a coach in a housing estate.

When asked by the BBC about the photo, which had no caption, the Reform UK councillor acknowledged it was AI-generated. "The image was obviously for illustrative purposes," he said.

Last month the BBC reported hundreds of people had been relocated to deprived parts of north-east England because councils in their original areas did not have enough housing of their own.

Grimes said it was "entirely predictable" the BBC was "hyperventilating" over the image instead of the fact "southern councils are using the north as a dumping ground for their housing failures and mass migration".

He added: "Make no mistake, this is happening, people are being pushed to the back of the queue in their own communities."

The post, published on Grimes's Substack and subsequently to his Facebook and X accounts, said Durham County Council had received official notification of nearly 100 households being moved from London to the region in the past two years.

He said there were 10,000 people on the local authority's social housing waiting list and only 3,000 homes became available each year.

"You don't need a degree in advanced mathematics to see that the system is rigged against local people," he wrote.

Grimes then suggested the Reform-led council's proposed new social housing policy would fix the issue, even though the families being moved to region were being put in private accommodation.

Grimes told the BBC there was "no stopping anybody" making applications for social housing in County Durham, though figures he provided suggested the majority of people on the waiting list already lived in the county.

He said in the blog the party's proposed policy would prioritise veterans, people fleeing domestic abuse, and those in overcrowded homes, as well as those with urgent medical needs.

In response to questions posed by the BBC, Grimes acknowledged Durham County Council's current system already gave preference to those groups but said the party was looking at changing some of the ways it prioritised people.

He also said the new policy would mean only those who had already lived in County Durham for at least two years could join the housing register - though some exemptions would apply.

The council currently gives preference to those who have lived in the North East for at least a year, as well as for other local familial or employment-related reasons.

Grimes said he hoped the two-year rule would mean families originally from other parts of the country would have to wait longer before applying for social housing in County Durham.