Subscriptions
Read our Monthly Magazine
And support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system
Reform has sought to backtrack from its proposals to ban election materials published in languages other than English or Welsh, after it was met with outrage across the country.
The Reform amendment to the Government’s elections bill, as first reported by Byline Times, would see campaigners and candidates who use languages such as Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Scots, Irish – or Urdu and Punjabi, facing up to six months in prison.
Reform UK ignored this outlet’s request for comment. But following our story, The Scotsman quoted Highlands & Islands MSP for Reform UK, Max Bannerman, denying it would affect Gaelic or Scots, saying: “This amendment was drafted for application in England and Wales, not Scotland and Northern Ireland.”
However, that is untrue.
The amendment signed by every sitting Reform UK MP states: “A person shall not print or publish, or cause to be printed or published, any [election-related] bill, placard, poster or printed document…unless the material is in the English language or the Welsh language…
“A person who commits an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction— (a) in England and Wales, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, to a fine or to both; (b) in Scotland or Northern Ireland, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to both.”
In correspondence seen by Byline Times, a Reform spokesperson later told Concubhar Ó Liatháin, Gaeltacht Correspondent of Ireland’s The Journal: “The amendment was drafted for application in England and Wales, not in Scotland and Northern Ireland. It aims to preserve the integrity of elections by ensuring that they are fought in domestic languages, including English and Welsh, and not Urdu or Bengali as we recently saw in Gorton & Denton.
“Similarly, our MSPs in Scotland are currently exploring introducing a Bill to the Scottish parliament to ensure that future Scottish elections can only be fought in Gaelic, Scots and English.”
However, when pressed by Ó Liatháin on why the amendment included prison sentences for those in Scotland and Northern Ireland, Reform UK appeared to blame the Commons authorities, saying: “This was essentially an administrative error. The Table Office changed the amendment to explicitly mention Scotland and Northern Ireland which was not in our original draft.”
Pushed again on why they hadn’t therefore dropped the amendment, the Reform spokesperson added: “The Bill we amended has now been dropped. If it’s brought back we will submit another amendment that explicitly clarifies these measures would only apply to England and Wales.”
It is not true that the bill has been dropped. It has been postponed to September to give time for the Hillsborough bill, creating a duty of candour for public officials.
Excluding Scotland and Northern Ireland in a new amendment would still have the effect of banning Cornish-language election materials in England.
ENJOYING THIS ARTICLE? HELP US TO PRODUCE MORE
Receive the monthly Byline Times newspaper and help to support fearless, independent journalism that breaks stories, shapes the agenda and holds power to account.
We’re not funded by a billionaire oligarch or an offshore hedge-fund. We rely on our readers to fund our journalism. If you like what we do, please subscribe.
However, there is no indication in the text of the amendment, as written, that it applies only to England and Wales, and the sentencing language is clear it would apply to Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Identities Dismissed
Reform’s Max Bannerman added: “As a highlander who is a keen supporter of the Gaelic language and Scotland’s rich cultural heritage, I can guarantee that Reform UK is committed to protecting the linguistic heritage of Britain.”
He claimed the amendment “was about preserving the integrity of elections and ensuring that they are fought in domestic languages, not Urdu or Bengali.”
“This is not about diminishing Scotland’s identity or heritage,” he told The Scotsman.
But the reaction from voters in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Cornwall has been intensely opposed.
Don’t miss a story
Welsh governing party Plaid Cymru’s Westminster Leader, Liz Saville-Roberts responded to Byline Times‘ story, saying it was “outright discrimination from Reform.”
“It shows a stubborn ignorance of the advantages of bilingualism and multilingualism, and exposes Reform’s politics as a tyranny of the majority when it comes to use of language.”
A top comment on a Scottish forum said: “Reform claims to champion free speech until it’s speech they don’t like.” Another called it “unhinged culture-war bilge.” One thought that Reform believed the real target was Arabic or Hindi material and Reform simply forgot Scottish Gaelic, Irish and Cornish existed.
On a Cornwall forum, one noted the policy was a “guaranteed way to alienate Cornish voters.” Another commenter added: “Farage wants to jail people that speak indigenous British languages… What a patriot.”
And in Northern Ireland, one voter noted the amendment would apparently stop Sinn Féin using its own party name on election material, since it is in Irish. The same could be said for Mebyon Kernow, the pro-independence party with three councillors on Cornwall Council.
The Scottish National Party has strongly condemned the move, branding it “anti-Scottish”. SNP MSP for the Highlands and Islands, Maree Todd, said: “Reform must now do the right thing – apologise to the people of Scotland for attempting to criminalise election materials written in Scottish languages and immediately withdraw this outrageous amendment.”
Irish language campaigners are also irate at the proposals and believe it would breach the Good Friday Agreement.
‘As Disgraceful as it is Delusional’
Responding to Byline Times‘ story, Irish Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews, said: “Even for Nigel Farage, this is crazy. It would clearly contradict the Good Friday Agreement. The amendment must be withdrawn.”
Dr Pádraig Ó Tiarnaigh, spokesperson for Irish language community campaign network “An Dream Dearg”, echoed the fears over Ireland’s peace process, telling this outlet: “Reform’s attempted legislative attack on the Irish Language is as disgraceful as it is delusional. The Good Friday Agreement and indeed the recent Identity and Language Act (2022) afford official recognition to the status of Irish here, and since 2001, the British Government has ratified the European Charter for Regional Minority Languages for Irish up to Part 3.
“Only last year we succeeded in repealing a Penal-era (1737) ban on the use of Irish in Courts and after many decades of activism we have finally seen the appointment of the State’s very first Irish Language Commissioner.”
Reform UK Plans To Jail Candidates For Using Irish, Gaelic Or Cornish On Election Leaflets
EXCLUSIVE: Nigel Farage’s party propose amendment to the Government’s elections Bill which would mean candidates using Irish and Scottish Gaelic would face up to six months in prison
Dr Ó Tiarnaigh believes Reform MPs “clearly have zero understanding of the history of the Irish language in this part of Ireland, where over many centuries, the language was banned and outlawed.”
“Its community of speakers were oppressed, imprisoned and marginalised. Any effort to re-criminalise Irish speakers will be resisted and let there be little doubt, those efforts will fail.”
He said that despite all efforts from British parliaments and courts to “erase the Irish language,” Irish has “survived, revived and [is] now thriving.”
“The future for the Irish language is very, very exciting, and we urge the narrow-minded, draconian policy drafters behind this bill to embrace a diverse, pluralist, multilingual and multicultural society where language rights support citizens who chose to live their lives through their indigenous tongue,” the Irish language campaigner added.
Reform’s Bannerman claims he is “exploring introducing a Bill to the Scottish Parliament to ensure that future Scottish elections are fought in Gaelic, Scots and English only.”
This would appear to directly clash with his own MPs in Westminster.
Got a story? Get in touch in confidence on josiah@bylinetimes.com
holding farage to account #reformUNCOVERED
While most the rest of the media seems to happy to give the handful of Reform MPs undue prominence, Byline Times is committed to tracking the activities of Nigel Farage’s party when actually in power
Contribute to our #ReformUncovered crowdfunder
Subscribers Get More from JOSIAH
Subscribers Get More from JOSIAHJosiah Mortimer also writes the On the Ground column, exclusive to the print edition of Byline Times.
So for more from him…
