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Reform UK proposes jail for candidates using Irish, Gaelic or Cornish on leaflets

politicsJul 14, 2026212,866

Reform UK has tabled New Clause 107 to the Representation of the People Bill, an amendment drafted by deputy leader Richard Tice and co-signed by every sitting Reform MP that would require all election publications to be in English or Welsh only. The clause would make publishing campaign material in any other language a criminal offence, punishable on summary conviction by up to six months in prison and/or a fine, and would apply to candidates, agents and parties across the whole UK. The proposal would criminalise use of Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish on leaflets, putting routine bilingual literature in constituencies such as Na h-Eileanan an Iar at risk and extending to Northern Ireland where Irish and Ulster-Scots have legal protections under the Good Friday Agreement. Five of six Cornish MPs (four Labour and one Liberal Democrat) signed a joint statement condemning the amendment, and the Cornish nationalist party Mebyon Kernow called the move “unbelievable.” The Scottish National Party also condemned the proposal; SNP Highlands and Islands MSP Maree Todd called it a “despicable anti-Scottish amendment” and demanded Reform withdraw it and apologise to the people of Scotland. An SNP source warned that much existing SNP campaign literature, especially in the Western Isles, would fall foul of the clause because it features Gaelic and Scots words and phrases.

The Socialist Dad
@thesocialistdad.bsky.social

So apparently we aren't even allowed to use our own language any more Reform can fuck off

139445d ago
Quoting this
Stéphanie says… 🏴‍☠️🦈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️24

Ah! Imposing the good ol’ British Empire on the ‘natives’ once again…

Elinor Elliot22

If you want to see an openly fascistic policy, here it is. Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Cornish are native languages of these islands. They are all recognised by law in the UK. And you can bet Reform wouldn't stop there.

Because Language (becauselangpod)10

Banning languages in voting information or forms is a common tactic to lower turnout and prevent representation

Indy lass7

Jesus Christ this nutter and his Ilk is past the padded cell, 1746 is past long ago ya vile Nazi piece o 💩 and people vote for this 🤷

🎈 DarkOverord 🦔🦇7

Lets be honest here, the only reason they've exempted Welsh from this is entirely just because they're second largest in the Senedd If they flopped Senedd elections in May the amendment (unlikely to pass) would ban Welsh on leaflets too. After all, they're happy to breach what ended The Troubles

Darryl Mott6

Reform: England for the English! Respect our history! English person: *speaks Cornish* Reform: Not like that. Scottish person: *speaks Gaelic* Reform: Not like that either. Irish person: *speaks Irish* Reform: I don't think you're getting into the spirit of the thing...

Aðav ap Iago3

Pyth yw an ger Kernowek rag twat?

Snark3

Farage , the insufferable human cretin .

Hildemara🌷3

#UKpolitics #AusPol #MagaHs/MegaFs Sounds like he’s been discussing language with Pauline Hanson🤔

Stick 🏳️‍🌈🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🩸3

Might explain why my local Reform MS still hasn't responded to any of my Welsh language emails. (that she's legally mandated to respond to yn Gymraeg.)

Adam Bienkov
@adambienkov.bsky.social

Reform UK plans to jail candidates for using Irish, Gaelic Or Cornish on their election leaflets. Nigel Farage’s party propose amendment to the elections Bill which would mean candidates using Irish and Scottish Gaelic would face up to six months in prison bylinetimes.com/2026/07/13/r...

54145d ago
Natalie Bennett
@nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social

Reform: For the "you couldn't make it up" file. “It’s discriminatory to the other indigenous languages of the UK." bylinetimes.com/2026/07/13/r...

28645d ago
Quoting this
Jessica D. M. 🇺🇦 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇵🇦 🇬🇱 🪃 🟧19

#Auspol If One nation decides it will seek to ban First Nations Languages and other non English languages, we know what Policy came from Hansons England trip.

Another Green18

Yep Reform want to criminalise Cornish.

Where Seagulls Dare10

Can't help but feel the framing of this story misses the point, almost to the level of being a bit disingenuous. Yes, use of Irish, Gaelic, Cornish etc. would be criminalised, but I suspect that's incidental and borne of Reform's ignorance and the target is more likely to be Urdu, Arabic, Hindi etc.

Peter7

I’m disappointed in the reporting from @bylinesnetwork.co.uk not featuring any representation from people Reform are clearly meaning to target; e.g. those who need Arabic, Urdu, Bengali translations. If this bill were amended to exempt languages “indigenous to the UK” it would be no less egregious.

The Spectre Haunting Europe6

The 2029 Reform government (made inevitable by the inability of the Labour Party to do literally anything other than fluff the far-right) will massively accelerate the Balkanisation of the UK - so there will be upsides.

Alan Gallery5

Reform and their ilk are hateful to anything that is not like them. Everyone decent and tolerant should be afraid. The languages Farage wants to criminalise were in what is now the UK before English was cobbled together, and many of the speakers had Latin as a second language.

Eileen Parkes5

English politicians ignorance of the Good Friday Agreement was demonstrated abundantly in Brexit already

Chris #ChangeEverything #VoteGreen3

#ReformUK and #NigelFarage are so out of touch with society and reality, it is painful...and sad that far too many UK citizens still believe or support anything they do or say! #NEVERNigel #NEVERReformUK #FuckFascists

Sustainable Us2

I think that's really missing the more extreme racist angle. It would also mean excluding 'migrant' languages, which is likely to be the main aim. eg. Polish, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali... And sign language!!

Scottish Greens
@scottishgreens.org

Not only would this criminalise the use of Gaelic in Scottish elections, it would threaten to jail anyone who uses British Sign Language in a campaign video. At their first whiff of power Reform's priority is to make our democracy less accessible and threaten their political opponents.

Byline Times. Reform UK Plans To Jail Candidates For Using Irish, Gaelic Or Cornish On Election Leaflets. Nigel Farage’s party propose amendment which would mean candidates using Irish and Scottish Gaelic would face up to six months in prison.
21444d ago
Niall Ó Conghaile
@nialloconghaile.bsky.social

There is nothing that Reform want more than opening a front in the culture wars against Scotland, Wales and revolution, or Ireland, Europe and the Good Friday Agreement. This would run afoul of the UK's international commitments, not least the ECHR bylinetimes.com/2026/07/13/r...

9945d ago
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