“We’re talking about working parents only,” she said. “We are absolutely not talking about families that are completely on benefits, and therefore we are not supporting a benefit culture, because that is absolutely against what Reform stands for.”
The tightrope
Family-first politics is a risky pitch from the populist right, though, particularly for an anti-woke party haunted by accusations of having a gender problem.
Reform’s mantra — family, community, country — echoes U.S.-style conservatism, though Pochin insists the party is “absolutely not” drawing any culture wars inspiration from across the Atlantic.
“This is just core values stuff,” she said. “Britain has always been a traditional country with traditional family values, and that seems to have been lost.” Pochin went on to say that the government is more interested in “supporting, for example, asylum seekers and housing asylum seekers,” adding that she wants to “get back to our traditions, our culture, our values — and we believe that starts with the family.”
“In the U.K., you guys are a more secular society with religion less politically engaged [in discourse],” explained Patrick Brown, Republican family policy expert at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington.
That secularism matters, politically. If Farage were to adopt a harder line on issues like abortion or gay marriage, for example, “he would risk putting himself at odds with public opinion — including among his own supporters,” warns More in Common’s O’Geran.