Reform UK has announced a new campaign to tackle Britain’s litter and fly-tipping crisis, promising tougher fines, stronger enforcement and a national push to restore civic pride.
Speaking at a press conference this morning, Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice said the state of Britain’s streets, parks and countryside had become a “national embarrassment” and a “national disgrace”.
“If you look around our streets, our parks, our countryside, it’s a mess,” he said. “Everybody knows it. Everybody feels it.”
Under the plans, Reform UK would raise fixed-penalty notices for fly-tipping from the current £1,000 cap to £5,000. The party is also proposing vehicle seizure for repeat offenders, with permanent forfeiture for those caught a second time within 36 months.
For commercial, large-scale fly-tipping, Reform UK wants a new aggravated offence, with a mandatory minimum fine of £20,000 and vehicle forfeiture on conviction.
Tice said the current system has failed because there is “no sanction” and “no deterrent”. Too often, he argued, offenders receive little more than a “slap on the wrist”.
The party is also launching an annual National Action Day on Saturday 4 July, when Reform MPs, councillors and elected officials will lead local clean-ups across the country. Tice said the aim was to “rekindle civic pride” and encourage communities to take responsibility for the places they live.
Fast-food outlets would also face tougher pressure under Reform UK’s plans. As Tice said this morning, “we all use, when we’re busy, fast-food chains.” But at the same time, “they do generate a disproportionate amount of litter. A Keep Britain Tidy survey showed that McDonald’s packaging, for example, represented just under 30% of all litter… Greggs, 18%. Delicious, by the way, but nevertheless. KFC, 8%. The list goes on.”
As a result, restaurants and takeaways should be required to provide more and bigger bins, and to ensure they are regularly emptied. Councils, Tice said, must be prepared to clamp down on fast-food litter.
“If fast-food chains and outlets are continually responsible for litter around their premises and beyond, then they’ve got to think about the consequences,” he said. “The consequences could be that they lose their licence to operate.”
Reform UK's campaign also puts pressure on National Highways. During today’s conference, John Read, founder of Clean Up Britain, accused the quango of failing to keep England’s motorways clean despite receiving more than £5 billion a year from the Department for Transport. He said Britain’s major roads are "covered in litter, their signs are often corroded, lettering is peeling off signs, they’re damaged, often they’re falling apart."
We should not wait for Whitehall to act on this. George Finch, Reform UK’s leader of Warwickshire County Council and Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council, pointed to work already underway in Warwickshire - including a Civic Pride Charter for schools, efforts to cut back overgrown trees and clean road signs, and plans to use community payback teams to clean up local areas. “You cannot just put a sticking plaster on this,” he said. “This needs cultural change and it starts with young people.” An emphasis on education is particularly important.
Britain does not have to accept filthy streets, fly-tipped country lanes and rubbish-strewn motorways. Reform UK has always championed the belief that British people should take pride in their country - but we can’t do that if the country itself is a mess. It’s time to clean up Britain.
Speaking at a press conference this morning, Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice said the state of Britain’s streets, parks and countryside had become a “national embarrassment” and a “national disgrace”.
“If you look around our streets, our parks, our countryside, it’s a mess,” he said. “Everybody knows it. Everybody feels it.”
Under the plans, Reform UK would raise fixed-penalty notices for fly-tipping from the current £1,000 cap to £5,000. The party is also proposing vehicle seizure for repeat offenders, with permanent forfeiture for those caught a second time within 36 months.
For commercial, large-scale fly-tipping, Reform UK wants a new aggravated offence, with a mandatory minimum fine of £20,000 and vehicle forfeiture on conviction.
Tice said the current system has failed because there is “no sanction” and “no deterrent”. Too often, he argued, offenders receive little more than a “slap on the wrist”.
The party is also launching an annual National Action Day on Saturday 4 July, when Reform MPs, councillors and elected officials will lead local clean-ups across the country. Tice said the aim was to “rekindle civic pride” and encourage communities to take responsibility for the places they live.
Fast-food outlets would also face tougher pressure under Reform UK’s plans. As Tice said this morning, “we all use, when we’re busy, fast-food chains.” But at the same time, “they do generate a disproportionate amount of litter. A Keep Britain Tidy survey showed that McDonald’s packaging, for example, represented just under 30% of all litter… Greggs, 18%. Delicious, by the way, but nevertheless. KFC, 8%. The list goes on.”
As a result, restaurants and takeaways should be required to provide more and bigger bins, and to ensure they are regularly emptied. Councils, Tice said, must be prepared to clamp down on fast-food litter.
“If fast-food chains and outlets are continually responsible for litter around their premises and beyond, then they’ve got to think about the consequences,” he said. “The consequences could be that they lose their licence to operate.”
Reform UK's campaign also puts pressure on National Highways. During today’s conference, John Read, founder of Clean Up Britain, accused the quango of failing to keep England’s motorways clean despite receiving more than £5 billion a year from the Department for Transport. He said Britain’s major roads are "covered in litter, their signs are often corroded, lettering is peeling off signs, they’re damaged, often they’re falling apart."
We should not wait for Whitehall to act on this. George Finch, Reform UK’s leader of Warwickshire County Council and Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council, pointed to work already underway in Warwickshire - including a Civic Pride Charter for schools, efforts to cut back overgrown trees and clean road signs, and plans to use community payback teams to clean up local areas. “You cannot just put a sticking plaster on this,” he said. “This needs cultural change and it starts with young people.” An emphasis on education is particularly important.
Britain does not have to accept filthy streets, fly-tipped country lanes and rubbish-strewn motorways. Reform UK has always championed the belief that British people should take pride in their country - but we can’t do that if the country itself is a mess. It’s time to clean up Britain.
