A year ago, an episode reminiscent of America's polarised "culture wars" unfolded in a leafy central London square as hundreds of pro-choice and anti-abortion protesters confronted one another outside an abortion clinic.

Months before, a parliamentary bid to stop abortion providers from giving NHS-funded counselling to women failed, but resulted in the government establishing an all-party group to consider ways of incorporating the "spirit" of the proposals into law. To pro-choice activists and others, Britain's abortion laws were facing their greatest challenge for decades – one perceived to be emanating to a large extent from a socially conservative, religiously motivated movement.

But is there a "religious right" emerging in Britain? It is an interesting question, and one which the public theology thinktank Theos has attempted to answer in a report published today.

Its verdict? The case for the existence of a religious right appears superficially strong amid evidence of greater co-ordination among Christian groups with a strong socially conservative commitment on issues including sexuality, marriage and religious freedom.

Yet the report concludes: "It is highly misleading to describe this phenomenon as a US-style religious right." In fact, it suggests that using the term "religious right" is "not only morally dubious, but arguably counterproductive, in danger of provoking the very thing that such critics claim to want to avoid".

It's a solid piece of work, drawing on analysis of media coverage and interviews with figures from several campaigning Christian groups. It undermines some of the stereotypes that crop up in discussions about politically engaged Christians, pointing out that large proportions of them are left-of-centre on economic issues.

Another example refers to Tim Mongomerie, co-founder of the Conservative Christian Fellowship and a man described as "an influential individual in the Conservative and Christian scene", asserting that "any straightforward association" of him with "a religious right vanguard" within the Tory party is undermined by his support for gay marriage.

But what of its central assertion? It is not enough to demolish the idea that Britain has an emerging "US-style religious right" [my italics] – a British-style religious right might still exist. The report casts the term as inappropriate in a British context because that phenomenon fails to tick a series of boxes based on a US model (notions of which may already be outdated anyway).

No comparative use is made of other countries, particularly our European neighbours. Take Ireland, currently in the grip of a fraught political debate over abortion, or France, where religious groups recently played a major role in Parisian protests against plans to legalise gay marriage and adoption.

The Theos report itself paints a vivid picture of a socially conservative bloc emerging in the UK, elements of which have successfully developed a "symbiotic" relationship with sections of the media.

Funding, too, is not inconsiderable. Organisations such as Care, the Evangelical Alliance and the Christian Institute have cleared £2m each in annual income in recent years, although it should be noted that lobbying on classically social conservative causes sits alongside activities on poverty alleviation, anti-slavery work and environmentalism.

Andrea Williams, who heads Christian Concern and its sister organisation, the Christian Legal Central, meanwhile told Theos that her organisation receives "small amounts of money" from a US religious right group, the Alliance Defence Fund, "£1,000 here and £1,000 there".

She added: "A big cheque for us would be £10,000 or £30,000. We've had occasional cheques over that – £50,000 may be very occasional."

Politically, Tuesday's first Commons vote on plans to allow same-sex marriages in England and Wales will be an intriguing new measure of the depth of support for one particular social conservative viewpoint within parliament's largest party, with dozens of Tory MPs expected to rebel.

For many gay couples looking on, not to mention workers and clients of abortion clinics last year, the presence and influence of a socially conservative bloc is very real – whatever term is used.