If Tommy Robinson is misapproriating the Christian faith for his own politcal purposes, Christians should appropriate it right back again, says George Pitcher, just as the Church of England bus stop posters have done. Let’s reclaim patriotism and use it for good this festive season
Honestly, the Tommy Robinson newsfeed does give itself away easily.
Under its pinned post for this weekend’s Unite the Kingdom (UTK) Christmas carol rally in central London, it declares: “This event is not about politics. It is not about immigration. It is not about Islam or any other group. It is about Jesus Christ - fully and completely.”
But scroll down and the next post, with accompanying video, shows a peaceful Islamic distribution stall with the caption: “Dishing out free Qurans right next to a Christmas tree. They really have ZERO respect for our culture. They need to go. Not welcome here.”
Dishing out free Qurans right next to a Christmas tree.
— Tommy Robinson 🇬🇧 (@TRobinsonNewEra) December 9, 2025
They really have ZERO respect for our culture.
They need to go.
Not welcome here. pic.twitter.com/sJbhYmriD4
Hmm. No room at Tommy’s Inn for the stranger, then. And is that Christmas tree really our culture – a Norwegian spruce, introduced by Prince Albert as a tradition from Germany and the Baltic states? Ah well, details schmetails.
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – I won’t indulge this ‘Tommy Robinson’ pantomime – is widely reported not to be stupid. Righto, I accept that. And yet… the banner for Saturday’s Christian rally reads: “Putting the Christ back into Christmas.” Not to say there’s a clue in the name, but I wonder if we can look forward to being told to put the mincemeat back in the mince pies at future Christmases.
I’m sorry, the temptation to ridicule is irresistible, but a lot of friends tell me this is serious. Mr Yaxley-Lennon is said to have converted to Christian faith in prison and I take that seriously. But I also take it seriously if his is a gospel I don’t recognise.
Co-opting Christ
To wit, I don’t recognise Christian nationalism, as imported from America. Again, it’s said that Mr Yaxley-Lennon is misappropriating the faith for his own political purposes; that he’s co-opting the Christ in his image, rather than vice-versa, and that’s surely a blasphemy.
But condemnation for that is insufficient. It plays his game and doesn’t get us anywhere. I’m for appropriating the faith right back again. Happily, the Church of England has responded, beyond handwringing, with rather nice bus-stop posters declaring: “Christ has always been in Christmas.”
I propose catchlines such as “Proud to be British, welcoming strangers this Christmas”
Well, yes, and the Christmas morning service has always been in church, but we can do better than that. Rather than just telling UTK not to be so silly, this is a real opportunity to reclaim patriotism from those who wave St George’s flags and march under Christian crosses demanding an England for the English - by which they mean exclusively for white people like themselves.
The difference between nationalism and patriotism is well rehearsed. The patriot loves their country, serves it and rejoices in its shared values; nationalism is vested in a country’s superiority and prioritises it over all others. Patriotism loves its country for the good it does. Nationalism honours its country whatever it does.
On those definitions, Christian nationalists are unpatriotic and Christian patriots are unlikely to be found in UTK. That distinction is worth advertising, at bus stops and elsewhere. Rather than confirming that the Christ indeed has something of a central role in the Christmas festival, I’d like the Church to co-opt patriotism as firmly as, if less cynically than, UTK has co-opted our faith.
So I propose catchlines such as “Be a patriot – love your neighbour”. Or “Proud to be British, welcoming strangers this Christmas”. Don’t mention it, Archbishop – my invoice is in the post.
Patriotic and proud
By contrast, UTK seems entirely disunited with such values of patriotism. Quite how their carols event can be “fully and completely” about Jesus Christ while telling complete strangers in the street that they “need to go” is unclear.
Perhaps they’re overlooking that the baby they’ll be singing about on Saturday was an infant refugee, fleeing with parents who feared for his life. A life that was to be lived in indiscriminate welcome not only of strangers but of his enemies. Still, many of those who marched under holy symbols at UTK’s summer demo didn’t seem exactly over-briefed on the Christian story.
That story, which begins again liturgically the week after next, is nothing if not universal. It is borderless. The great commission of the gospel is that those who buy into it go into the world to make disciples of every nation. That commission has been executed rather too forcefully at times during Britain’s imperial and colonial past but, at its best, the universality of the creed was paramount.
So, I’d want to talk to someone handing out copies of the Quran by a Christmas tree. And UTK’s cosplay crusaders can come and have a go at either of us, if they think they’re soft enough. Meanwhile, peeping into the crib at a gift for absolutely everyone in the world, Mr Yaxley-Lennon should be careful what he hopes and prays for.
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