Gaslighting is a word that has entered the English language in recent years.  It is defined as “a psychological manipulation technique in which a person tries to convince someone that their reality is untrue”.

I believe I experienced gaslighting for the first time at last week’s Full Council meeting of Crawley Borough Council, when one after another, Labour Councillors sought to discredit the concerns of Crawley residents over their proposal for Crawley to be bounced into Surrey, as part of the local government reorganisation that the Labour Government is forcing on us.

In seeking to discredit me at the meeting, Labour Councillors were creating a bizarre parallel universe, where the people of Crawley are happy with being bounced into Surrey.  I was accused of “being responsible for all the misconceptions”, of being “a conspiracy theorist”, of being “like Nigel Farage” and repeatedly of “wearing a tin foil hat”.  Anyone who knows me, or has had correspondence with me, or who reads this weekly column that I’ve writing for 11 years, or who follows me on social media, knows this is complete nonsense.  This was gaslighting in action and it’s all there on the Council’s YouTube channel to see. 

The reality was that at the very least, I was representing a very sizable amount of Crawley opinion, and more likely the majority view.  Labour Councillors gaslighted that there wasn’t widespread opposition in Crawley to their proposal. 

The local petition against the Surrey proposal that is seeking a local vote before any move to Surrey, had reached 1,000 signatures that evening and yet this was also dismissed by the Council Leader, who claiming that it was not local signatures.  As I write, it is now approaching 1,750 signatures.  While all Conservatives voted against, all Labour Councillors voted for the Surrey plan, so that it was passed.  It may now be the policy of Crawley Borough Council - but it is not the view of Crawley.  My concern now is that if the Government decide to lump Crawley into Surrey this summer, they will do so before the West Sussex proposals come forward. 

Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group

14th May 2025