Most Britons still regard themselves as Christian

New figures from the Office for National Statistics has found that most British people still consider themselves to be Christian while the number of homosexuals is far lower than previously estimated.

While 71 per cent of people said they were Christian, just 1.5 per cent said they were gay or bisexual, amounting to only around 750,000 people in the overall population.

The number is far below figures suggested by the Government in 2005, which estimated homosexuals in Britain to number around 3.6 million, and gay rights group Stonewall, which previously estimated that between five and seven per cent of the adult population in Britain were gay.

Of those who said they were homosexual, 1.3 per cent were men and 0.6 per cent were women.

Gay rights group Stonewall said it believed the real number of homosexuals could be higher as many of the surveys were conducted over the phone or on doorsteps, possibly discouraging people from giving their real answer.

The figures have been welcomed by the Evangelical Alliance, who said they bolstered the cause for believers to become more open in expressing their faith.

Its Advocacy Director Stephen Cave said: "Christians have increasingly felt bewildered about what they can and cannot say or do. Of course faith is personal to each individual but that doesn’t mean to say it’s entirely private - far from it.

"In fact we welcome dialogue with people of all beliefs, including atheists. Where possible we should engage in conversation not confrontation.

"Our challenge now is to demonstrate that being a Christian is much more than belonging to a certain group. Quite simply it’s about making a commitment to Christ and enjoying the freedom of conscience to do that in public life.”

Mike Judge of the Christian Institute suggested the Government should lower its spending on same-sex issues to reflect the figures.

He told the Daily Mail: “A large amount of public money has been spent on the basis of higher figures, which have turned out to be a lie.”

The survey found that the number of people describing themselves as Christian still far outweighs those who say they have no religion, who account for 20.5 per cent of the population.

The figures will be good news to those who believe Christianity should still have a prominent role in public life and indicate that affiliation to the faith remains strong in spite of declining church attendance.

Their release comes just one week after the Pope spoke out against the marginalisation of Christianity and attempts to push faith into the private sphere.

However the number of people saying they have no religion has risen from 2001, when 15.1 per cent of the population said they had no religious affiliation.

Muslims make up 4.2 per cent of the population, followed by Hindus at 1.4 per cent, Sikhs at 0.6 per cent, Jewish at 0.5 per cent and Buddhists at 0.4 per cent.