I love Christmas, and all the build-up to it. Drinks with work colleagues and friends that I haven’t seen for a while, donating to a choir singing carols at a railway station, buying a gift for my amazing wife, and of course, spending carefree time with my immediate and extended family.

I’m not a man of faith, but another highlight is hearing about the plans that my deeply Christian friends have for celebrating and worshipping.


And the thrill obtained from wishing numerous people a ‘Merry Christmas’, will never leave me. I’m aware of other religious festivals and events that are of huge importance to followers of other faiths, so are my kids, because they were taught all about these at primary school.

The existence of these does not offend or upset me in any way, shape or form, so I merely let others get on with celebrating those in whatever way they see fit. Live and let live. So why do so many people seem determined to erode the Christmas I have adored since childhood, in as many ways as they can?

A local council advised residents to place their Christmas trees away from their front windows, so as not to cause offence to people of other faiths as they walked past. What utter baloney.

Peter Bleksley christmas

Peter Bleksley discusses the erosion of Christmas

GB News

Guess where my Christmas tree is? The National Trust, along with several other quite frankly idiotic organisations, replaced Father Christmas with Mother Christmas in their grottos.

I gave up on that woke-infested home of liberal nonsense last summer, when they tried to charge me £16 to go for a walk. Newcastle University has banned the use of the phrase ‘Christmas break’, to describe the, er, ‘Christmas break’, in case the use of this entirely innocuous phrase would cause offence to anyone. Other universities have stupidly followed suit.

The last words uttered on the BBC’s ‘Sports Personality of the Year’ programme this week were, ‘enjoy the festive season’, yet another clear sign that the national broadcaster has fallen so far from what it should be, that its presenters cannot bring themselves to wish the viewers a ‘Merry Christmas’.

I expect they find it easier to open their huge licence-fee-payer-funded pay packets.

In other news, Christmas Markets have become Winter Markets, possession of mistletoe will invariably get you cancelled, and human rights campaigners have tried to kick-start a conversation around the ‘religious intolerance’ of Christmas.

In light of all the above nonsense, which ironically reeks of intolerance towards those of us who hold Christmas very dear indeed, and is seeking to erode the traditions of this time of year quicker that a beachside Norfolk home is destined to fall into the sea, I shall continue to honour the customs, spread the cheer and happiness, and thoroughly enjoy myself.

I sincerely hope you do too, because we cannot let the destroyers win. A very merry Christmas to you and your loved ones. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, then I suggest you get a life.