Put U.K. First

Everywhere I drive, I’m seeing buses advertising and promoting Diwali. Yet I haven’t seen one bus encouraging people to celebrate Christmas. Before anybody gets this twisted, I actually love celebrating Diwali. I celebrate it every year with my friends. I love going round their houses, enjoying the food and being part of the Festival of Lights. It’s something I genuinely enjoy, and I wouldn’t want that taken away from anybody. This isn’t about racism. It’s about something much bigger. It’s about the division that I believe is being pushed upon us from all sides. We live in a country with a long-standing Christian heritage. Christmas is part of our history, our culture and our traditions. So why aren’t we seeing the same enthusiasm for promoting Christmas? But it does make me ask some questions. Why does it sometimes feel as though Christian festivals and celebrations are being downplayed, watered down or even rewritten to fit a particular narrative? Why does celebrating our own Christian heritage sometimes seem to be treated as something we should be cautious about? I don’t believe celebrating other cultures and traditions should mean overlooking or sidelining our own. I don’t want to see a country divided by religion, culture or background. I want to see people living alongside one another, respecting one another and celebrating one another. But respect has to work both ways. We shouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable celebrating our own traditions, history and Christian heritage. Sometimes I genuinely wonder whether the constant emphasis on our differences is doing more to divide us than unite us. We can celebrate Diwali, Christmas and other religious festivals without making anyone feel that their own traditions have to take a back seat. There is room for everyone. I genuinely believe that. But there should also be room for Britain to celebrate Christmas proudly. And I don’t think there’s anything unreasonable about that.