Joan Bakewell: The Christian lobby is flexing its muscles

All those who hate political correctness have been enjoying a lively sideshow this Christmas, with columns of newsprint telling with glee of how 70 per cent of bosses in a recent survey said they would not allow Christmas trees or decorations to be displayed for fear of offending other faiths. Another survey proclaimed that three out of four managers live in fear of being taken to law over improper incidents at office parties.

Setting aside the absence of any connection between the Christmas tree and the birth of Christ, we are seeing the annual crescendo of concern that the Christian content of Christmas is losing ground. What with Nativity plays in retreat and rumours of dotty councils seeking to rename the whole thing Winterval, there's fuel aplenty to stoke the fires of rage and resentment that seem to blaze forth at this season of goodwill.

Don't you believe it. These are crocodile tears, shed by people who haven't been to church all year, whose view of Christmas harks back to their own childhood which they seek to recreate for a few days around almost forgotten carols and old-fashioned foods. In fact, the Christian churches are in fine heart and exercising political muscle on a scale not seen for decades.

But first those reports. When Newsnight sent out a reporter to net some of the businesses that have banned decorations, he failed to find any. Peninsula, which published the reports, is a northern-based health and safety consultancy for thousands of small businesses. Its founder, the enterprising Peter Done, built up the company from a background in betting shops, and has made much of his fortune defending small firms at employment tribunals. Perhaps it is not unreasonable to suggest that Peninsula's surveys, possibly conducted with their clients, have delivered the findings that Newsnight failed to substantiate.

Looking around, there is little evidence that Christmas decorations are out of fashion, or that Christmas is being subverted. Indeed Christian churches are increasingly active in this country's political decisions. Earlier this year, the churches led the campaign against the Assisted Dying Bill, which was defeated in the House of Lords by 48 votes. There are some 27 bishops sitting there, roused to vote in unison by the public declarations of their leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury. But the Catholic Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster had also been effective, encouraging the many local groups to protest in what an official of Dignity in Dying called "the biggest political campaign in church history".

There was an even more effective campaign this autumn, when the Government's proposal to impose quotas on faith schools was first mooted. The Catholic Church went into overdrive. Priests were instructed to alert their congregations, who in turn were asked to contact their MPs. The flood of letters did the job, the proposal was dropped almost immediately, and the Church, as the Cardinal Archbishop himself told me, was delighted to have been so effective.

Cardinal Murphy O'Connor had of course been to Edinburgh to support the Make Poverty History lobby. It remains to be seen whether he will now join his fellow archbishop Rowan Williams in his opposition to the renewal of the nuclear sub Trident. Will priests and congregations be mobbing MPs over that?

And there's further trouble on the way. Just over a year ago, civil partnerships were introduced by the Government. Since then, the number of homosexual "marriages" has surprised everyone. The legislation passed without fuss, bringing Britain into line with other European countries. It was quickly accepted as extending rights of property and inheritance to a group of people who had always been denied them.

It is no surprise, then, that a law was subsequently drafted to ban discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. This would mean that places offering goods or services to the public - hotels, pubs, schools - would not be allowed to refuse them to individuals because of their sexuality.

The churches, by now familiar with how to sway policy, have been at it again, vigorously opposing the legislation. The Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham actually had the gall to claim that the Government was imposing its own moral agenda on the church. Religions in this country are free in law to preach that homosexuality is an abomination, but they are not entitled to impose such views on the rest of us. Currently this law is on hold, while Ruth Kelly, the Cabinet's devout Catholic, and Tony Blair, possibly its soon-to-be convert, bend to religious pressure. Happy Christmas, everyone... especially if you're gay!

j.bakewell@independent.co.uk

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