British Christians should be able to speak openly of faith

Britain’s Prime Minister Teresa May has said Christians should be able to speak openly of their faith in the workplace. 

Ms May’s comments came in response to an intervention by MP Fiona Bruce during Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament last week in which she raised concerns felt by Christians that they could be disciplined or even dismissed for speaking openly of their religious beliefs in work. There have been numerous cases in the country where Christians have faced punishment for speaking from a faith position or for wearing Christian symbols. Cases are often initiated by management worried at breaching equality legislation.

In her reply, Ms May stressed that Britain has a “very strong tradition” of “religious tolerance and freedom of speech”, and added that the nation’s “Christian heritage is something we can all be proud of”. She insisted that being able to “speak freely, respectfully and responsibly about one’s religion” should be a “jealously guarded principle”, adding “I am sure we would all want to ensure that people at work do feel able to speak about their faith, and also feel able to speak quite freely about Christmas”.