“Tory and Labour governments have failed a generation of young people with a substandard curriculum that undermines academic rigour and national identity in favour of promoting their mass migration agenda,” Suella Braverman, Reform UK’s education spokesperson, said in a statement.
Farage has been critical of Britain’s monarch in the past. Before Charles became king, the Reform UK chief branded him an “eco-loony” over his support for tackling climate change.
He has since defended the outburst, telling the BBC ahead of the 2024 general election: “He wasn’t the King then, and I can’t speak ill of the monarch obviously.”
As education policy is devolved, the Westminster decision would apply to English schools, Reform said — but the party has promised if it controls governments in Scotland and Wales it would introduce similar policies.
Patriotic policy making
It is not the first time Reform UK has promoted symbols of patriotism in the run-up to an election. Ahead of local polls last May the party pledged to ban all flags except the Union Jack, St George’s Cross and county flags on public buildings.
Last summer national flags started appearing on flyovers and lampposts across the country, driven by an online movement titled “Raise the Colours.” It came amid a summer of anti-migrant protests.