The only Black branch chair of Reform UK has left the rightwing populist party, saying the tone of Britain’s migration debate is “doing more harm than good”.
Neville Watson, from north London, told the Guardian he had not experienced any racism in Reform, where there were “a lot of good people”. However, the former leader of the party’s Enfield branch said he was alarmed by the growing influence of Christian nationalism – the hard-right movement that blends politics with fundamentalism.
Watson added that he was dismayed by rising levels of Islamophobia, feared some people within the party were “sympathetic” to the far-right activist Tommy Robinson, and was concerned British politics was “losing its compassion” as parties vied to compete with Reform.
The son of Jamaican, Windrush-generation parents, Watson,whose professional background is in social enterprise, youth work and special educational needs, played a key role in welcoming voters from London’s diverse communities into the party.
Under his stewardship, branch meetings in Enfield attracted new members from Nigerian, Sikh and Turkish backgrounds who were disillusioned with mainstream politics.
A fixture at conferences, the father-of-three had a coveted seat on Nigel Farage’s table at events and wrote articles for the party’s magazine, the New Reformer.
However, after the “unite the kingdom” rally, which attracted an estimated 110,000 protesters to London and raised fears of a new era of division in the UK, Watson decided to leave Reform.
Earlier this year he wrote to Zia Yusuf, Reform’s former chair and current head of policy, saying the UK should pay reparations to African-Caribbeans, after Yusuf had dismissed the idea.
Watson said: “I know that down the track, there’s going to be other issues that I’m going to come into conflict [with Reform] on.
“The march in London recently, with Tommy Robinson, where the term Christian nationalism suddenly raised its head, where they were using Christian emblems to advance to me an ideology that is not Christian … I know that Nigel [Farage] himself has distanced himself from anything to do with the likes of Tommy Robinson, but I do know that there are still people within Reform who are quite sympathetic to his ideas.
“Whether it’s Nigel banging on about the [small] boats, or Robert Jenrick talking about Handsworth, [politicians] are stoking a fire. Some might be stoking it with a smaller stick – and that type of conversation, with the boats, the [asylum] hotels, I feel it’s doing more harm than good in terms of community relations.”
A longtime Brexit supporter and socially conservative evangelical Christian, Watson had stood as a parliamentary candidate in Edmonton, north London, and as a London Assembly candidate for Ukip before joining Reform.
Ultimately, he said, it was his religious beliefs and his views on the positive case for migration and diversity that led him to question the direction of UK politics.
He added: “Politics is losing its compassion as politicians try to out-Reform Reform and I no longer feel that this is compatible with my Christian faith.
“I believe migration has been good for this country and that, managed properly, still could be.
“I’m coming from a very strong, Christian, love thy neighbour sort of perspective, and what I want to say is going to feel different from Reform. If I sat as a chair, I would always be conscious of that, I would never feel free, and so I have left Reform and joined the Christian People’s Alliance.
“Reform has so much momentum at the moment, but leaving has allowed me to proclaim who I am without flinching. I don’t want to see a society where we weaponise our faith against Islam. We respect our Muslim brothers and sisters.”
Reform UK was approached for comment.
The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.
If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.
Secure Messaging in the Guardian app
The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.
If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select ‘Secure Messaging’.
SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post
If you can safely use the Tor network without being observed or monitored, you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform.
Finally, our guide at theguardian.com/tips lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.
