Are Reform ‘proto-fascists’? Let’s take a quick look, shall we?

The Canary recently published an article on former shadow chancellor John McDonnell’s statement that Reform UK are a ‘proto-fascist’ party. Personally, I’ve always just defaulted to calling them ‘far-right populists’, rather than getting into the nitty gritty of what is and is not fascism. Racists are racists, and fascism is notoriously difficult to define.

But, it’s an interesting enough question – are Reform UK proto-fascists?

For the sake of argument, let’s take a run through a fascist checklist and Reform UK’s policies, and play spot-the-difference. We’re keeping this snappy, so we’ll be using Lawrence Britt’s ever-popular Fascism Anyone? Other, more complicated definitions are available.

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.

 Only Reform UK will stand up for British culture, identity and values…

Only Reform UK will secure Britain’s future as a free, proud and independent sovereign nation.

Ok, we’re starting with a free square here. Reform UK was born from the Brexit Party and bottom-of-the-barrel flag-waving nationalism. Oops, and they just happened to slip in a ‘secure our future‘ the too. Check.

2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.

Leave the European Convention on Human Rights

Commence reform of the Human Rights Act so that it puts the rights of law-abiding people first.

Another easy one – Reform are all for scrapping the European Convention on Human Rights and rewriting the Human Rights Act. Check.

3. Identification of enemies/scape-goats as a unifying cause.

Record mass immigration has damaged our country. The small boats crisis threatens our security. Multiculturalism has imported separate communities that reject our way of life. Divisive, ‘woke’ ideology has captured our public institutions.

I was in a toss-up whether to go for Reform’s demonisation of immigrants or ‘woke’ here. Imagine my surprise when I found them next to each other in  the same paragraph. Check.

5. Rampant sexism.

Stunningly, Reform UK managed not to write ‘We hate women’ in their manifesto. Absolute genius political move, that. Fortunately, it’s very easy to find lists of their abhorrent misogyny – it really doesn’t bear repeating here.

6. A controlled mass media.

The out-of-touch wasteful BBC is institutionally biased. The TV licence is taxation without representation. We will scrap it.

The Lib Dems (stopped watches and all that) have recently accused the BBC of following Farage around like a lost puppy. The broadcaster is reportedly planning to alter its news and drama output to appeal to Reform voters. And that’s still not enough pandering for Farage?

I’ll give this one half a check – threatening retribution for a lack of support isn’t direct control, but it’s hardly support for ‘free and fair’ (nominally, it’s the BBC) media either.

7. Obsession with national security.

Increase Defence Spending to 2.5% of National GDP by year 3, then 3% within 6 years

And we’re back to easy ticks again. Increase military spending, recruit 30,000 full-time soldiers, tax breaks for the defence industry – it’s all there. Check.

8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.

We’ve kind of forgotten that what underpins everything is our Judeo-Christian culture and that’s where we need to start. And if we recognise that, and if we value that, then I think everything comes from that.

That charming little bit of dogwhistle islamophobia isn’t from Reform UK’s manifesto. The main policies don’t have a lot to say about the church. Instead, it was part of a conference address back in February. It also just happens to mimic rhetoric used by Trump and his cronies to appeal to the religious right in America. Half a check.

9. Power of corporations protected.

Slash Red Tape to Boost Industry and Exports

Scrap thousands of laws that hold back British business and damage productivity, including employment laws.

The manifesto is absolutely dripping with pro-corporation, anti-worker sentiment. I’ll admit, I was very tempted to write this article as ‘Reform aren’t Nazis, they’re a get-rich-quick scheme in a racist jacket’. Unfortunately, there’s very little difference between someone who does racism to get rich, and someone who happens to get rich by doing racism. They’re both just racists. Check.

10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.

We must make it easier to hire and fire so that businesses can grow.

This one followed straight on from the quote for 9. It’s nice when they just group all of the horrible shit they want to do nice and close together. Plus, all four Reform MPs voted against the Employment Rights Bill, if you needed a more succinct demonstration. Check.

11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.

Sociology is another Mickey Mouse degree, as far as I’m concerned.

I had a few to pick from in the manifesto here. Contenders included ignoring climate scientists and banging on about scrapping Net Zero, cutting funding to universities that ‘undermine free speech’, and alluding vaguely to ‘COVID lockdowns bad’. However, I went with this quote from Reform MP Richard Tice. Why would a party want to undermine the study of societies, I wonder? Check.

12. Obsession with crime and punishment.

Commence Increase in Police Numbers

Recruitment to increase UK per capita police numbers to 300 per 100k population. That is 40,000 new front-line officers, over a 5-year parliament.

Plenty to choose from here too. Increase police recruitment, increase police on the street, commence ‘zero-tolerance policing’ – it’s all in there. Big check.

13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.

Boo, they didn’t put ‘we plan to put all our pals into positions of power’ in the manifesto. Fortunately, there’s ex-Reformer James McMurdock’s fraud allegations, and ex-Reform Wales leader Natan Gill’s Russia-linked bribes allegations. And then there’s Farage’s demands for seats in the House of Lords (we didn’t realise that’s what ‘reform the Lords’ meant, Nigel). Or the plans to place unelected ‘experts’ in cabinet positions. That sure looks like cronyism and corruption to me – check.

14. Fraudulent elections.

Another one that no party would claim to back, of course. Reform’s manifesto does include support for restrictions on postal voting, except for people who can’t leave their house for various reasons. This makes it harder for people to vote, nominally for the sake of fraud prevention. I’ll give this half a check.

Likewise, Reform also wants to introduce proportional representation in parliament, which would make it far easier for them to gain seats in the future. However, I remember the debates in lefty circles around the 2011 Alternative Vote Referendum – equal parts boring and vicious – so I’m not touching this one with a bloody barge pole.

Final scores for Reform

By my highly scientific count, all of this means that Reform score 12.5 out of 14 on our little fascism checklist. On balance, McDonnell’s assertion that Britain’s new far-right darlings are proto-fascists seems right on the money. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go take a hot shower – this involved far too much time digging through Reform’s manifesto, and I feel grubby all over.

Featured image via the Canary