SEND Crisis Explodes Nationwide — And Reform Deputy Leader Chooses to Mock Vulnerable Kids.

At the very moment councils warn the SEND system is on the brink of collapse, Richard Tice took aim at… ear defenders. Yes, really.

For children with SEND needs, the world is often not a safe or easy place — and that’s not just because of their condition. It’s because of a system that is chronically underfunded and under-resourced. A recent report by the County Councils Network laid bare this harsh reality: the needs of these children are rising fast, and the financial pressure on local councils is spiralling out of control. But the report was clear: the problem isn’t just a funding crisis — it’s a human one.

When you read those stark financial forecasts — councils facing unsustainable costs, transport budgets tripling, demand doubling — it’s easy to forget that behind every figure is a child, a family, a parent struggling to be heard. These are the most vulnerable in our society, not a cold spreadsheet.

So when Richard Tice, Deputy Leader of Reform UK, made sweeping remarks about children wearing ear defenders, it wasn’t just tone-deaf — it was cruel. For those parents and children, every day is a challenge. Yet he dismissed their coping mechanisms as “insane.” Ear defenders are not a gimmick; for many people with sensory sensitivities, they are essential. Loud noises are not just uncomfortable — they can be overwhelming, even damaging. To mock that isn’t just ignorance. It’s callous.

I challenge Mr Tice to spend a single day in a school for SEND children. Try to see the world through their eyes and their ears. Experience what it feels like when a child finally relaxes, when they concentrate, when they smile because they are no longer overloaded. If he truly wants to understand, he’ll realise how beautiful that is — and how wrong he was to trivialise it.

These children don’t need cheap shots — what they need is urgent, systemic reform. The CCN report makes it clear: local authorities are being pushed to breaking point just to provide basic educational and transport support. The system needs a full redevelopment. We need mainstream schools to be genuinely inclusive. We need long-term, sustainable funding. And we need accountability — but not from people who have never faced the lived reality of SEND families.

So if Mr Tice wants to point fingers, let him aim them where it really hurts: at a system that starves children of the help they desperately need, at governments that have avoided taking responsibility, at budgets that prioritise bureaucracy over humanity. That isn’t political grandstanding — it’s justice.

Hitting vulnerable children instead of tackling the underlying crisis is not just wrong. It’s a cheap shot.

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