Farage Asked to Defend Faith and Freedom as 15,000 Parents Resist Labour’s Education Bill

Britain’s Leading Rabbinical Authority Issues Explosive Appeal to Reform UK Over Labour’s Controversial Schools Bill

LONDON, 28 MAY 2025 — In a move set to send shockwaves through Westminster and beyond, the British Rabbinical Union - the authoritative voice of Britain’s Haredi Jewish leadership - has issued a formal letter to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and party chairman Richard Tice, urging them to take an uncompromising stand against the Labour government’s Schools Bill.

The letter, signed by Rabbi Asher Gratt, President of the Union and former principal of the UK’s largest Charedi school, denounces the Bill as an “alarming expansion of state control” and a “grave threat to parental rights, religious freedom, and educational diversity across the country.”

Faith, Family, and Freedom at Risk

Described by the Union as “a betrayal of Britain’s historic commitment to liberty of conscience and local autonomy,” the letter condemns the Labour Party’s drive to centralise educational authority in Whitehall — eroding decades of local governance, threatening the freedom of religious and independent schools to uphold their ethos, and undermining the right of families to educate their children at home according to their values

The letter identifies six dangers posed by the Bill:

• State interference in religious instruction

• Undermining of parental authority and home education

• Legal overreach bypassing parliamentary scrutiny

• Bureaucratic takeover of local schooling

• Contradiction of the levelling-up agenda

• Threat to the rich educational diversity of Britain

“This is not merely a policy concern,” Rabbi Gratt writes, “it is a national crisis of conscience. It affects every parent and every tradition that values liberty in raising the next generation.”

A National Movement Rising

In a sign of rapidly growing public resistance, over 15,000 parents nationwide have already signed a declaration of resistance to the Bill, pledging to defend their rights to educate their children in accordance with conscience, faith, and tradition.

This grassroots surge reflects deep public unease — not only in Orthodox Jewish communities, but also among traditional Christian, Muslim and secular family networks — united in the belief that the state has no mandate to rewrite the values of the next generation.

An Appeal to Reform UK

In a calculated and direct appeal, the Union calls on Reform UK to:

1. Publicly oppose the Schools Bill in the strongest terms

2. Commit to repealing it in full if enacted

3. Position itself as the defender of parental rights, religious liberty, and traditional education.

The letter also requests an in-person meeting with Reform UK leadership to discuss how the party can represent the silenced voices of communities being marginalised by current government policy.

A Voice for Over 10,000 Children

Representing more than 10,000 Charedi children in the UK, the British Rabbinical Union is widely recognised as a leading voice in the defence of authentic Torah education. Its intervention presents Reform UK with a significant opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to traditional values and earn the trust of faith-based and values-driven voters across the country.

Westminster Reacts?

The timing of this letter is politically explosive. With the Labour government pushing forward with what critics see as an ideological education agenda, and Reform UK rising in national polls, this appeal could galvanise faith-based voters in marginal constituencies. Political commentators are already predicting that this moment could be “the poll tax of education policy” — the tipping point that transforms public frustration into electoral realignment.

Editorial Note:

This is not just a Jewish issue. It is a test of Britain’s national values. The Schools Bill is being watched by Christians, Muslims, and secular family advocates alike.

If we allow Whitehall to take from parents the right to raise their own children, we lay the foundation for a dictatorial regime — one that uses education to indoctrinate our children with state ideology.