I spend a lot of time working at home, so it gives me ample opportunity to hear the voice of the people giving their opinion on radio programmes such as the James O’Brien or Nick Campbell shows.

One of the terms that grates me even more than ‘WE WANT OUR COUNTRY BACK’ (often pronounced CANTREE) is ‘THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND OUR CHRISTIAN VALUES’ when it comes to refugees or indeed, our exit from the European Union (you may have heard this called Brexit).

Personally, I am pretty much a practicing agnostic when it comes to religion. I have no problem whatsoever with people who choose to privately attend a church, synagogue or mosque, but at the same time, I find it appalling that they use their own faith as a way of justifying their behaviour.

For example, our own Prime Minister, a practicing Christian, calls half a dozen war torn folk trying to get across the channel on a dinghy a crisis, yet she denies that thousands of people sleeping in shop porches on Christmas Day is anything to do with an austerity driven, crisis of wealth distribution.

Remember this. After 10 years of austerity, the people at the top of the banking industry still live in mansions and not one of them went to prison for fraud. Give or take the odd pound or two, fraudulent and irresponsible lending cost the UK £850 Billion. A Chap I know bought a house for £7 million of the back of his RBS bonuses, still lives there, but at least he goes to church.

Is that what constitutes Christian values? Maybe it is, I don’t go to church myself, but if I ever rip someone off, I might give it a go.

Theresa May has also taunted the police force, the army and the NHS, with claims that there is no magic money tree before bunging the DUP (check their for their bonkers ideology) a cool £1 Billion and allowing her transport secretary to do such things as paying £13.8 Million to a ferry company with no ferries and T&C’s nicked from a takeaway food company.

Thankfully, Theresa, is an upstanding Christian. She has checked in with God and he has said that her faith in him will help deliver a successful Brexit. Phew, that’s a relief.

So, if you ever hear one of these tossers on the radio spouting on about Christian Values here are some figures that might come in handy.

British citizens regularly attending church 4%

Make up of UK faiths claimed by Citizens in a 2017 Poll

Christian 50.7 %
Muslim 2.5%
Hindu 0.7%
Jew 0.6%
Sikh 0.3%
Buddhist 0.6%

Other Non-Christian 1.5%
Atheist 41.5%

So, it would appear to me that the only threat to our Christian values is that people who claim to have Christian values don’t go to church. I would hazard a guess that most people (around 95%) don’t even know what Christian values are and it is just a phrase they picked up from The Daily Mail.

So, the next time someone down the pub says to you that refugees and Brexit are a threat to our Christian values, ask them what exactly their Christian values consist of and stand well back.

Then find another pub where someone will claim fishing makes up 25% of the British economy (it’s 0.3%) and that it is going to be -25C next week because it says so in The Daily Express (So much for global warming eh?)

That’s the country, indeed world, of populist drivel we are living in.

*By the way, 71.8% of the EU is of Christian faith.