Charity leader hits back at far right use of Christmas story

A THEOLOGIAN fears Christian nationalism following the use of the Christmas story by the far-right anti-immigration activist Tommy Robinson.

The Unite the Kingdom Christmas carol service, which drew around 1,000 people, was held in Whitehall on Saturday and led by Mr Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

In response, the Church of England released a short video, called Christmas Isn’t Cancelled, featuring voices from churches and schools across England to “celebrate the joy, hope and love of Christmas in their local church”.

Dr Krish Kandiah, who lives in Henley and is the founder and director of the Sanctuary Foundation, said using the Christmas story to justify anti-immigrant and anti-asylum sentiments is a “perversion” and “corruption” of its core message.

“As a Christian, I want Christ to be at the centre of Christmas,” he said. “Mary and Joseph were forced to Bethlehem and Jesus was born in temporary accommodation so using the Christmas story to be anti-immigration and anti-asylum seems like such a perversion and corruption of the essence.”

Dr Kandiah claims the rally stirred up division and hatred. He said: “At first reading, it looked very innocent but then emails sent to his supporters made it clear that this was about the culture war, stirring up division and hatred.

“He didn’t do any political rallying there but he’s still trying to argue for the legitimacy of his movement by attaching it to the Christian faith.”

St Martin-in-the-Fields, which is on the corner of Trafalgar Square and is believed to be around 800 years old, supports homeless and vulnerably housed people.

It held a family carol service on the same day as Mr Robinson’s protest.

Dr Kandiah said: “The church has served Londoners since 1222 and is the place where homelessness charity, the Big Issue and Amnesty International were founded, so it has a local and global vision. My charity helped to organise the day, which featured a live donkey, some sheep, Mary and Joseph and a little baby.

“We wanted people to look at the heart of the Christmas message, which is God’s love for the whole world, which is the real essence of the Christian Christmas story, not one that’s about division, xenophobia and hatred.”

Dr Kandiah is waiting to see the fruition of Mr Robinson wanting to become a Christian. He added: “It’s fantastic that he wants to become a Christian but that involves taking the teaching of Jesus seriously, which is about loving God and loving your neighbour.

“Jesus said that the way you tell the validity or the truth or the authenticity of someone’s belief is how it works out in practice but we’re yet to see the fruit of that decision.”

Dr Kandiah affirmed his belief in national borders for security but emphasised the importance of generosity and compassion.

“I believe in borders,” he said. “I think it’s important that there is security and safety in our country but there’s also room for generosity. We can have control but we can also have compassion.

“For example, we’re foster parents and at night-time we lock the front door as we want everyone in our home to be safe but if social services called us in the middle of the night, then we would open the door and welcome them in.”

While acknowledging challenges like the cost-of-living crisis, he believes the UK is a compassionate nation, evidenced by the public’s response to Ukrainian refugees.

Dr Kandiah said: “There are so many people who may have been left behind by globalisation and who are struggling with housing and bills.

“Some bad faith actors come along and tell them the reason for all of that is immigration and you are scapegoating immigrants rather than actually dealing with the problems.

“I’m hopeful that given the opportunity, people can be kind and compassionate enough to push back against some of the extremist scapegoating of immigrants, and when given the chance to actually meet people rather than just hear about them, people will respond with compassion and kindness.”