Is Britain a Christian country? It is not a question we have always taken entirely seriously - Nigel Nelson

Nigel Nelson
Tue, 24 Mar 2026 13:58:37 +0000
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Is Britain a Christian country? I only ask because an affirmative answer seems to have become the default position for anyone having a go at those who belong to other religions, particularly Islam.

It is not a question we have always taken entirely seriously. In the 2001 national census 390,000 respondents gave their religion as Jedi, followers of the grammatically-challenged pointy-eared Star Wars puppet.

It was a massive practical joke and registrar general Len Cook had the good sense to re-classify them under the 7.7 million who said they had no religion.

Had it been allowed to stand it would have meant that Jedis officially outnumbered the UK’s 329,000 Sikhs and 260,000 Jews.

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In the 2021 census only 46.2 percent of the population of England and Wales identified as Christian, the first time it had dropped below half in the survey’s history.

Which means the answer to the question of whether Britain is a Christian country is only sort of, in the sense we are constitutionally Christian because there is no separation between Church and State – unlike America and France which had revolutions to sweep away the link.

But even that is misleading. We are not so much a Christian country as a Church of England one, which allows 26 CofE bishops to be Lords Spiritual and sit as of right as legislators in Parliament – the only country other than Iran to permit such a thing.

If Church and State were to put their relationship on Facebook the entry would say: “It’s complicated.”

It is a quirk of our political system which came about because Henry VIII had the hots for Anne Boleyn who would only sleep with him if he married her.

The only way he could do that was to nationalise the Church and replace the Pope as its head to give himself permission to divorce.

Proposals to reform the Lords have included removing the bishops, which in a 21st Century Western democracy seems to make sense.

But a Royal Commission by Tory peer Lord Wakeham in 2000 warned against that because it might undermine the monarchy.

It could encourage the Church to disestablish taking away the King’s key constitutional role as its Supreme Governor. Demands to abolish the monarchy might be next.

The Greens are reportedly keen on disestablishment, but they should be careful what they wish for.

Not only would the King’s position be threatened, but the taxpayer might have to pick up a tab running into billions for the upkeep of the C of E’s 13,000 medieval churches because they are listed buildings.

As a largely secular nation we have traditionally let the religious get on with their worship unhindered. The grotesque firebombing of four Jewish charity ambulances this week shows yet again that simply being Jewish can be dangerous.

It is right there was condemnation from all quarters for this appalling attack.

We also had the shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy calling an open Muslim prayer meeting in Trafalgar Square an act of domination.

That is not a statement likely to encourage community cohesion. Would he say the same about the thousands of Christians who regularly gather in Rome’s St Peter’s Square to pray with the Pope?

We should not talk about tolerating other religions. That word implies a grudging acceptance by the strong for the weak. Religious freedom is the British way.

Last week a group of Year 5 children from St Matthew’s Primary in Trafford, Manchester came to the Commons to show MPs how to make bracelets with the Christian message: “Treat others as you would like them to treat you.”

Each bead represented similar entreaties found in most other religions – Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism and Jainism.

Those kids could teach the rest of us a thing or two about what the Christian spirit should really mean in this country.