Gaelic and Scots could be excluded from Westminster election material under Reform UK’s proposed changes to election rules, while remaining permitted for Scottish Parliament elections under a separate proposal put forward by the party in Holyrood.

The issue follows criticism of a Reform UK amendment to a UK Parliament Bill which sought to restrict election material to English and Welsh, with Reform later saying the proposal was not intended to apply in Scotland despite the amendment referring to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Reform MSP Max Bannerman has since said he would introduce a Member’s Bill at Holyrood to ensure future Scottish Parliament elections are contested in Gaelic, Scots and English.

However, under the current devolution settlement, the Scottish Parliament has responsibility only for Scottish Parliament and local council elections, meaning any legislation passed at Holyrood would not apply to Westminster elections.

The SNP says that would leave Gaelic and Scots protected for devolved elections but not for UK Parliamentary elections.

Karen Adam MSP said:

“Reform claim to care about Scotland, but after threatening to reduce the number of MSPs, strip our Parliament of its powers, and now this, people can see exactly what Reform is all about.

“They are tying themselves up into all kinds of knots over this but the whole saga has just demonstrated what we already know, Scotland should be an independent country with the powers to decide our own election rules and now it seems that Reform agree.

“Robert Burns famously wrote election materials in Scots, and lamented the loss of the language, to think we are still fighting the same battles a few hundred years later is simply astounding.

“But just like with Burns, the best laid schemes of Mice and friends are going agley, this whole sorry saga shows just how little Reform UK think of Scotland.”