On Robinson's religious trek, money is the righteous path

In early 2025, the far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (known by his public persona Tommy Robinson), serving yet another short prison sentence - this time for making false claims about a young Syrian refugee - apparently found Jesus.

- DAVID AARONOVITCH

And today, he plans to return the favour by bringing Jesus to central London. He will be hosting a carol and speech “service” which, he says, will “mark the beginning of a new Christian revival in the UK - a moment to reclaim and celebrate our heritage, culture, and Christian identity”.

If you’re wondering about the parallels suggested here and when the “old” Christian revival happened (was it Methodism in the late 18th century? The Oxford Movement in the 19th?), you're probably wasting your time. The point is to sound like something big is going on.

There has been a lot of excited media chatter in the last couple of years about a big religious reawakening among the young in Britain and America. Young men in particular are said to be pitching up in great numbers to services, particularly at churches where the performance element - incense, services in Latin, a bit of hellfire - is present. When examined carefully, the evidence for this great return to organised faith turns out to be weak, but it's a fun meme for journalists.

At the beginning of Robinson’s platform rally, which was the culmination of his huge “Unite the Kingdom” demo in September, prayers were led by a cleric called Ceirion Dewar, subsequently described by the BBC’s religious affairs correspondent as a bishop in the “small, more conservative, traditionalist Confessing Anglican Church”.