Robinson warned by bishop not to exploit Christianity

The Church must resist the exploitation of Christianity by far-right populists such as Tommy Robinson, a bishop has said ahead of a carols event organised by the anti-migrant activist.

- HOLLY BANCROFT

The Right Reverend Arun Arora, the bishop of Kirkstall and the Church of England’s (C of E) co-lead on racial justice, has warned that the Church must act to “resist the capture of Christian language and symbols by populist forces seeking to exploit the faith for their own political ends”.

The C of E is to launch a poster campaign aimed at confronting the increasing use of Christianity for a nationalist, anti-migrant agenda.

The posters, which will go on display at bus stops, say “Christ has always been in Christmas” and “Outsiders welcome”. They are part of a package of resources available for local churches to download and display in response to far-right rhetoric.

A coalition of church groups called the Joint Public Issues Team, including the C of E, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist church and the United Reformed church, have put together a “rapid response” resource for churches, with a call to focus particularly on Sunday 14 December - the day after Tommy Robinson’s Whitehall event.