Open Letter to the Chief Constable on Rushden Pride 2026
Dear Chief Constable Balhatchet,
The North Northamptonshire Liberal Democrats write to you to condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the deliberate targeting of Rushden Pride. The banner promoting Rushden’s Pride celebration was maliciously torn down. This was not idle vandalism. A banner advertising an LGBTQ+ event was singled out and destroyed, and the message that sends to LGBTQ+ residents in Rushden and across North Northamptonshire is unmistakable: that they are not welcome, and that their visibility will be attacked.
The organisers have been clearly, and understandably, shaken by the actions of someone burning the second banner, the first also being torn down on the 25th. They are right to feel that incidents like this are exactly why Pride events matter, and that homophobia remains a present reality in our communities, not a problem confined to the past. We pay tribute to the organisers and to the wider Rushden community, who responded not with fear but with solidarity — replacing the banner at their own expense and rallying new support behind the event.
An attack that singles out a person, a group, or their property because of hostility to their sexual orientation or gender identity is categorically a hate crime. As such, we believe this incident should be recorded, investigated and treated as one. Hate crimes are not victimless: they are intended to intimidate not only their immediate target but everyone who shares that identity. Left unchallenged, they embolden those who would go further.
That is why we are writing to you publicly. With Rushden Pride due between 19th – 21st June 2026, we ask Northamptonshire Police to act now, before the event, rather than after any further incident. Specifically, we ask that you:
Record and investigate the destruction of the Rushden Pride banner as a hate crime, and keep the organisers informed of progress;
Carry out a threat and risk assessment for the Rushden Pride weekend of 19th – 21st June, in consultation with the organisers and the venue;
Work with Rushden Pride to ensure that an appropriate level of security measures will be put in place to keep attendees, performers, volunteers and organisers safe;
Provide the organisers with a single, named point of contact within the force for the duration of the event; and
Reassure LGBTQ+ residents across North Northamptonshire, publicly, that hostility of this kind will be taken seriously and acted upon.
We recognise the pressures the force is under and the difficult choices that come with them. But the safety of a peaceful community celebration, held in the face of intimidation, is precisely the kind of priority that earns public confidence in policing. A visible, proportionate response now would send its own message: that in North Northamptonshire, everyone has the right to gather, to celebrate, and to be themselves without fear.
We would welcome your response to ensure that Rushden Pride goes ahead safely and joyfully.
Yours sincerely,
North Northamptonshire Liberal Democrats