Christian Emmanuel Centre condemned for hosting far-right political conference
On Saturday 7th Feb, The Emmanuel Centre in Westminster hosted the far-right political party Advance UK. The Emmanuel Centre is a well-known Christian venue, affiliated with Emmanuel Church. Advance UK said the event hosted in the building was to “unveil the first of our national policies on Restoration & Immigration”.
A crowd gathered outside the venue, to oppose the exclusionary rhetoric and politics of the party, and against a Christian venue hosting the event. At the conference Advance UK announced a policy of suspending all asylum claims, which would result in nobody being allowed to apply for asylum in the UK. They also propose banning public Muslim calls to prayer and the right to wear a niqab.
Symon Hill, a Christian author and university chaplain in the West Midlands was one of several Christians who contacted The Emmanuel Centre multiple times ahead of the 7th February, both highlighting to them and questioning their decision to host the Advance UK policy launch event.
Mr Hill said: “The far-right in the UK are more visible than they have ever been in my lifetime. Racist rhetoric has become mainstream, refugees are attacked instead of welcomed, Muslims and Jews are demonised, marginalised groups such as trans people and disabled people are viciously scapegoated. The only minority who the far-right don’t attack are the rich and powerful, as refugees and migrants are blamed for problems caused by unjust structures of wealth and power.
“As a university chaplain, I am constantly inspired by students challenging racism and bigotry in their everyday lives. Christians should be at the forefront of the struggle to uphold human dignity by challenging the far-right. But now we have Emmanuel Church and the Emmanuel Centre promoting the far-right by allowing their venue to be used for the vile racist agenda of Advance UK.
“The Emmanuel Centre must stop ignoring the questions. The use of churches by far-right parties must never become normalised.”
Holly-Anna Petersen is from Christians for a Welcoming Britain, a grassroots movement of Christians who aim to make people of different nationalities feel safe in the country.
Reflecting on the wider context of Church activities in the UK, she said:
We are often hearing in the news about the far-right, and those in the church who are getting swept up in this. But we need to remember that the overarching picture is still one of the UK church doing beautiful work of welcome – caring for those in our neighbourhoods regardless of background or nationality. It may not be dramatic or feel news worthy. But it’s the daily grind of love in practice that is so precious about the church.
