FSU Member Testimonial: Cllr Steven Plater, Reform UK

5 May 2026

Steven Plater is a Reform UK councillor in Doncaster who received a number of complaints over political satirical posts he made on Facebook.

It appears — as is so often the case — that these complaints were initiated by local political opponents, with one taken forward for formal investigation.

The post, in the tradition of Spitting Image or Punch in the 19th century, depicted the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, being walked on a lead by a man in Arab dress. The image was clearly satirising well-publicised debates about those potentially influencing the Prime Minister. Yet the City of Doncaster Council decided a formal investigation was required, on the grounds that the post was “Islamophobic”, racist and discriminatory.

With the help of the Free Speech Union's case management team, Steven was able to present a robust defence. As a result of that support, the council dropped the case against him.

The Free Speech Union is increasingly concerned about the deliberate weaponisation of council code of conduct processes to silence and cancel those who do not conform to prevailing orthodoxies or offend.

Watch Steven tell his story here.