Populism: Reform members reply to Tim Farron

Jeff Featherstone, an evangelical member of Reform UK, replies to Lib Dem MP Tim Farron's piece "The rise of populist politics?".

Jeff writes:

As a former Liberal Democrat councillor who is now a Reform member, Tim Farron’s article on the Evangelicals Now website is of particular interest to me.

In objecting to "populism", I do think that Tim needs to recall his own party’s relatively recent history. It used to be that the Liberal Democrats said that the Conservatives and Labour were dominated by the interests of big business and the unions respectively, and that only they represented listening to what the people wanted. That doesn’t sound a million miles away from populism to me.

'Populism'?

However, populism is a lazy way of dismissing a much deeper issue, to which Tim does no justice by saying it relates to seeing a "supposedly corrupt and sinister political elite".

One does not have to see corruption to think, for example, that there is a mindset amongst MPs and civil servants who saw Brexit as the wrong decision and, having failed to stop it, have been determined to neutralise the effects of it as much as possible.

This is not a group of people meeting together in a room to plot a conspiracy, but rather a set of people who have all looked for opportunities to block and hinder the process. To seek to do this in the face of a democratic decision lacks integrity.

The 'same views' on certain issues

A key reason for this is a London-dominated political system (something one would have expected the Liberal Democrats to be concerned about) which results in politicians and officials day after day, not just encountering people who think Brexit is a bad idea, but who are also preoccupied with particular views on LGBT, Net Zero and other issues for which there is a much broader range of views and priorities elsewhere in the country.

This again does not so much lead to a conscious conspiracy, but rather a misguided conclusion that all "right thinking" people have the same views on these issues, and so these are promoted as national policy and the only acceptable practice.

This does not just lead to challenges for Reform supporters. The cases involving nurses and those who consider themselves trans have highlighted how ordinary people from a range of backgrounds have been impacted by that attitude. Tim Farron himself has been on the receiving end of poor treatment by his own party for similar reasons.

It is the feeling that, no matter what views are expressed by ordinary people, those in power will do what they prefer to do anyway which leads to a collapse in trust.

The heart and the mind

Absolutely, there is a concern over a small number of individuals who seem unable to cope with hearing passion and determination in debate without resorting to violence, but it cannot be right for the response to be a neutral, unemotional form of politics. The nature of politics, and of the desire to improve society, needs to involve the heart and the mind, and for the ability for well considered, radical proposals to be clearly expressed and debated.

As Christians, we believe that leaders of countries, good and bad, are in place through the sovereign choice of God, and should be honoured and respected in their roles. However, that does not mean we should adopt an uncritical approach to them.

Jesus referred to Herod as "that fox". The Old Testament prophets time and again called out national leaders and wider societies who failed to act in a godly manner, and foresaw their downfall unless they changed.

It is perfectly possible to honour and respect leaders whilst being strongly critical of them. Christians of all people should be those who model that it is possible to disagree well.

Jeff Featherstone is a former county councillor and member of Grace Baptist Church, Halifax.

en also received a response from Trevor Bell, a preacher at Birchwood Community Church and a committee member of Reform UK Warrington branch.

Trevor writes:

Can I firstly thank Tim Farron for his continued public commitment to a Christian witness in the political world. Although we have different political outlooks, we share a common standing on the truth that above all earthly kings and rulers, there is an almighty God who reigns above them all. Hence those believers who disagree on how to build our nation can disagree lovingly and with deep respect towards those of different political outlooks.

It is in this spirit: can I point out where I disagree with some of Tim’s conclusions? He suggests that it is false that there is an “establishment” that is opposed to “the people”. I would hold that there has been for years a metropolitan, left-of-centre shared mindset in our political class, media and even judiciary. This has been seen in discussions, for example, on immigration, Net Zero, gender, where the consensus is rarely challenged within these bodies. Insiders said the day after the Brexit result our newsrooms were like a morgue in atmosphere; such were the pro-Remain views of the journalists.

Parliament didn’t even have a recorded vote when the Net Zero legislation was whisked through in 2019. These shared, agreed viewpoints are what Reform considers to be “the establishment”.

Many members of the public do not agree with these fashionable views. I can accept that calling it a battle between the establishment and the people may be a crude description, but the sentiment is based on a genuine, real frustration against the groupthink that actually exists.

He raises the point of what if a Reform Government fails to deliver, which would lead to a lack of trust. I would suggest that is exactly what has happened as “ConLabLibbery” have overseen a decline in our nation in so many ways. For example, promises to get a grip on the numbers entering our country have consistently been ignored once in power.

Tim is right to point out the need to have principled political leaders. Yet political opponents of Reform seem to jump on every possible lapse by Reform, but equal lapses by members of other parties are swept under the carpet. Has anyone read about former Labour MP Nick Brown? My guess is no.

As Christians we are used to news stories that go “A Church attender was arrested for…” but never “An atheist man was arrested for…”. It seems to me to be a fair comparison.

The article hints that Reform “stirs division”. I would suggest nothing has created more division in our country than uncontrolled mass migration. Ten million have moved to the UK since Tony Blair, which has had a devastating effect on demand for housing – losing our fields for an ever-increasing demand – for health care, even now demand for water.

Immigration works well when Government controls the numbers, those arriving want to integrate, and the general population are friendly and welcoming to newcomers. The latter doesn’t happen when the first two don’t take place. This is a valid viewpoint.

Those who disagree are not the enemy, they just see things differently.

I’m sure all Christians in politics want to see less heat in our national debate, and more understanding of the other person’s point of view. Tim and I agree on one thing, we should be praying for our leaders as Scripture demands. I’m encouraged that the Reform Christian Fellowship has a weekly online prayer meeting for our nation. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Christian fellowships within the parties held a joint one sometime?