A British politician has been in trouble after he criticized the use of Bengali signboards in London. Rupert Lowe is a member of Reform UK Party and Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth. He posted an image of a Bengali signboard with a slogan that read ‘Welcome to East London Tube’ from Whitechapel Station stating that all public signage across the UK capital should only be in English.

Lowe posted on X (formerly Twitter) saying, “This is London-the station name should be in English and English only.” His post featured a picture of the bilingual sign where both the English and the Bengali texts were visible.

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Elon Musk’s Reaction

Lowes quickly trended, getting 3.5 million views on X. His position was however both applauded and condemned as others accused him of being exclusive. Owner of X and Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk reacted with a simple type “Yes”.

However, it was not the case with all. Labour Party member Mike Tapp just saw it as a ‘Snowflake alert’. Lowe shot back with a query, asking whether Bengali signs at Dover and Deal would be accepted by residents there as the capital. “I suspect not,” he added.

Critics Call Out Hypocrisy

Several users pointed contradictions in Lowe’s argument, the existence of signage in English even in non-English-speaking countries. One pointed out, “Go to another country where English is not their spoken language and I’m sure you’ll appreciate seeing signs in English. Works both ways.” Another sarcastically asked, “I assume you have a problem with English signs in Wales then?”

Not the First Time

This isn’t the first time Lowe has made strong statements about English language dominance in the UK. In a LinkedIn post two weeks ago, he advocated for the deportation of immigrants unwilling to learn English, stating, “If you come to our country and refuse to learn English, refuse to work, refuse to contribute, refuse to integrate, refuse to live by our laws – then you should be deported. And we shouldn’t apologize about that.

His last words have again raised questions about multiculturalism and language policies in the UK.