Tom Harwood has questioned the Tower Hamlets council's financial priorities after discovering the local authority funds "mother tongue" language programmes joking "I don't expect them to pay for Duolingo".

Speaking on The People's Channel, the host said: "So the council will not be looking at maths, not potholes, but brushing up on Somali, Bengali, Arabic and more through mother tongue classes.

"Are we nurturing culture here, or fuelling division and potentially pushing back integration?"

These spending decisions occur whilst Tower Hamlets grapples with an acute housing emergency affecting thousands of residents.

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Latest figures reveal 28,852 households remain on the borough's housing waiting list, with 13,209 families living in overcrowded accommodation.

Former Labour activist Chris Worrall explained to GB News: "What you’ve got here, which is at the taxpayers' expense let’s remember, is people being paid to teach children a language that really should be taught at home. A lot of these mother tongue classes, which I’d call "taxpayer tongue" classes, have been controversial for years in Tower Hamlets.

"I think the only person who ever spoke out against it on the council was Councillor Peter Golds and he was immediately labelled a racist for saying that the only language that should be funded by the council is English.

"What we’ve seen is these sorts of bungs payments to community groups to run language classes often go to services where there are barely any children in attendance. And it’s not really about education; it's about community cohesion. Or rather, a lack of it.

"It goes further, too, into things like translation services. But translation is no substitute for integration.

"So why are we spending taxpayer money entrenching separation? There’s no incentive to learn English if everything that drops through your letterbox is already translated."

Tom added: "It’s extraordinary especially when councils are under immense financial pressure, having to raise taxes and make difficult cuts.

"This is, ultimately, an optional extra. My grandmother spoke Spanish. I don’t speak much beyond ordering a beer.

"I wouldn’t expect the council to pay for my language lessons or cover a Duolingo subscription.

"And yet, in Tower Hamlets, we know they distribute campaign leaflets entirely in Bengali, not even including English."

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The language programme controversy emerges as Tower Hamlets faces significant financial challenges affecting local businesses and residents.

A longstanding Bethnal Green shop owner, Leila McAlister, confronts potential closure after the council imposed a 300 per cent rent increase on her premises.

McAlister, who has operated her vegetable shop for 23 years and provides cooking classes and work experience opportunities, stated: "The amount they want to increase my rent by is basically more than I pay myself a year."