Army wants Remembrance Day to be less Christian - report

Ex-servicemen have written to Defence Secretary Grant Shapps to express concerns about an alleged Army policy stating that Remembrance Day should be "agnostic of religious elements". 

The Telegraph reports that the guidance was published in June 2022 with the aim of promoting inclusion and diversity. 

It states that "Acts of Remembrance, on Armistice Day and others, should be inclusive and seek to avoid being conducted as a wholly religious event".

The letter to Shapps has been signed by 12 former senior military figures, including Major General Julian Thompson, Rear Admiral Roger Lane-Nott and Lieutenant General Sir Henry Beverly. 

In the letter, they call the policy "a particular insult to our ancestors who fought and died to lead the world in ending slavery" and said that civic culture across the UK on 11th November is "sacred, Christian, tolerant and inclusive on our terms".

"No one should need to be reminded that this is a welcoming, inclusive and basically Christian country," they said. 

The newspaper reports that Shapps, who is Jewish, is "furious" about the policy and is "not offended one bit by Christian remembrance services". 

"In fact, he believes it's at the core of our nation's history and who we are," a source close to Shapps told The Telegraph.

News
In memory of an Anglican canon who loved Jews
In memory of an Anglican canon who loved Jews

Jewish academic and Hebrew scholar Irene Lancaster remembers her dear friend and Broughton Park Jewish Christian Dialogue Group co-founder, Canon Andrew Shanks.

Exeter Cathedral service to celebrate Britain's fishermen and women
Exeter Cathedral service to celebrate Britain's fishermen and women

Britain's fishing industry will come together in Exeter next month for the country's first National Harvest of the Sea.

Most practising Christians are evangelical, study finds
Most practising Christians are evangelical, study finds

Evangelicals are “younger, more ethnically diverse, and more likely to be male than the wider population”, according to the 28-page report published by the Evangelical Alliance UK. 

Book of writings by Pope Leo XIV published
Book of writings by Pope Leo XIV published

The current pope had no published writings prior to his election.