The co-founder of Restore Britain has said that Muslims are “less British” than Christians.

Charlie Downes (pictured), the Campaign Director of the far-right party, then made clear that he was referring not only to Muslims but to all non-Christians.

Downes’ comments are not only bigoted and discriminatory. They also completely misrepresent Christian faith, which has nothing to do with nationality.

Speaking to Talk TV, Downes said that being British is “about a connection to this land, it’s about an ancestry here. More than anything it’s Christian faith; it’s ancestry and it’s Christian faith. You’re certainly less British if you’re not a believer in Christian principles. If somebody was Islamic then they are certainly less British.”

In reality, Jesus’ teaching broke down barriers between people and encouraged love of neighbours, even love of enemies.  

Britain has never been a “Christian country” – nor has anywhere else, because no such thing is possible. You can search the Bible in vain for any reference for a Christian country. Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God, not “Christian countries”.

Restore Britian came fourth in the recent Manchester mayoral election, ahead of the Tories and Liberal Democrats. They are led by ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe. Whereas Reform are a hard-right party, Restore are even further right, with many policies that are essentially fascist.

Charlie Downes recently shared a social media image implying that Nigel Farage had been “bought” by Jews.

So what “Christian principles” does Downes have in mind? When Jesus was asked about the “greatest commandment”, he said it is to love God with all your heart, soul and mind– and that the second is to love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22,36-40).

In a similar discussion described in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 10,29), Jesus was asked, “And who is my neighbour?” In response to this question, Jesus told the story that has come to be known as the Parable of the Good Samaritan. This is about a Samaritan going out of his way to give a lot of help to a Jew – even though Samaritans and Jews were generally hostile to each other.

For Jesus, being a neighbour – and thus fulfilling the greatest commandments – is about reaching across racial and religious divisions and breaking down barriers.  

Following Jesus’ most basic teachings is thus incompatible with Restore Britain’s policies of racial and religious discrimination.

Sadly, this has not stopped Christian Nationalist commentators (such as Brett Murphy and Chris Wickland) express sympathy for Restore Britain’s ludicrous claims in recent days. This comes only weeks ahead of a major conference planned by far-right British Christians.

While very few other British clergy will agree with them, it is vital that they do not remain silent but stand up and condemn Restore Britain’s blasphemous distortion of Christian faith.

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My book, The Upside-Down Bible: What Jesus really said about money, sex and violence (Darton, Longman and Todd, 2015) can be bought in paperback or e-book, priced £9.99.