Government hits back at Norfolk County Council leader after extraordinary outburst

lynnnews.co.uk · Feb 17, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Government hits back at Norfolk County Council leader after extraordinary outburst Published: 17:26, 17 February 2026 The Government has hit back at the leader of Norfolk County Council after she sensationally withdrew the authority from the devolution process, accusing her of “vile abuse” and “false accusations”.Cllr Kay Mason Bilig, the Conservative leader at County Hall, has been criticised following her extraordinary speech this morning, when she branded Local Government Secretary Steve Reed a “two-faced bully” and a “b**tard”.She made the remarks after he reversed his previous decision to cancel this spring’s local elections and said they should go ahead after all.The Government has hit back at county council leader Kay Mason BilligCllr Mason Billig claimed he had earlier “threatened” to restrict the county’s access to funding and to withhold certain powers from proposed devolved authorities unless she agreed to support a delay in the elections.In response to his U-turn, she announced that her authority would be pulling out of Labour’s flagship policy of reorganising local councils and creating a mayor for the region.The decision has enraged the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. A source at the department said: “It’s both baffling and shocking that a council leader would launch such vile abuse and totally false accusations at a Secretary of State she has, by her own admission, never met or spoken to.“She should reflect on her own leadership given her inability over recent weeks to communicate a clear position on election delays.“Calling a man she has never interacted with, even once, ‘a b**tard’ seems like a stunt to detract from the bad feeling towards her locally and should be beneath any elected figure in UK politics.”Labour has also criticised Cllr Mason Billig, reviving the ‘steakgate’ scandal from last summer, when the Tory leader faced a furious backlash over her Facebook post which showed a picture of her steak meal with the caption: “Wonder what all the poor people are doing?”A Labour spokesman said: “The Tories in Norfolk are set to reject £1billion of Government investment over 30 years, all because she is scared of losing her seat. “This is the same Tory leader of Norfolk who was blocked from being Tory mayoral candidate for mocking poor people while eating a steak.”The Government’s response marks the latest escalation in an unseemly row which has spiralled since Monday’s U-turn on election postponements.Earlier today, Cllr Mason Bilig told a full council meeting that the Government’s handling of elections and devolution had thrown a decade of work “down the pan”.She accused Mr Reed, who has faced calls to resign since the election announcement, of making threats that the council would lose devolution and funding powers unless it agreed to delay elections.She called on district councils to support her decision, which the Tory leaders of South Norfolk and Great Yarmouth authorities have since done.