A Reform heavyweight opened up on GB News about the growing concern over the “Islamification of Europe” just as Britain experiences a Christian resurgence.
Sitting down with Emma Trimble for an exclusive interview for GBN Originals, Tim Montgomerie spoke about how the rise in Christian rhetoric is not merely a “right wing phenomenon”.
He told Emma: “There is church growth happening at the moment. More people do seem to be going to church.
“It’s not huge, but it’s measurable. And interestingly and very unusually, it seems to be more a male phenomenon than a female phenomenon. Something’s happening.”
In the past, the UK had been experiencing a staggering decline in Christianity over the past decade, with under two per cent of Britons regularly attending Church of England services.
Among 25 and 49-year-olds, belief has risen more modestly, from 21 per cent to 33 per cent over the same period.
Church attendance figures have also increased, according to two YouGov polls in 2018 and 2024, which showed a 56 per cent growth in UK adults attending church at least once a month.
But Mr Montgomerie cited figures beyond the UK, looking at the Christian nation of Hungary.
Mr Montgomerie cited the rise of Christianity in Hungary
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GB NEWS
He continued: “There, it’s probably one of the most obvious manifestations of this [trend]. I don’t think there’s a real belief and growth in what I would call authentic personal Christian belief.
“But there is a belief in a Christian culture that people, some people call it Christian nationalism.
“And people worry about the Islamification of Europe.
“There is definitely a risk, partly as a response, that the growing sort of Christian rhetoric and the identification of certain politicians with Christianity is partly that but of course, it isn’t just a right wing phenomenon.
Tim Montgomerie spoke with Emma Trimble for GB News
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GB NEWS
“When you have people like Richard Dawkins who are definitely not on the right of politics, and an atheist saying he’d rather have a Europe where Christianity is the dominant flavour of society rather than Islam.
“There is a contest of ideas.”
He further added, as a Christian, he “wouldn’t want to judge Muslims”, although he admitted he had a lot of questions about Islam.
He said: “I do worry that in the past, most of the people who’ve wanted to come to Britain have wanted to come to Britain because they liked what they saw, and they wanted to be part of what we were.
“I wonder now whether we have allowed too many people to come to our country thinking that they could change us and that there weren’t some basic foundational requirements of them in coming.”
Mr Montgomerie cited freedom of speech, being able to speak English and the separation of church and the secular state which migrants “perhaps” were unaware of before relocating.
The Tory defector was speaking to GB News after he announced he was the Honorary President of Reform’s newly-established Christian Fellowship, seeking to boost Christian political engagement.
When asked whether Reform would welcome a Muslim Fellowship too, he responded: “I don’t think there is one at the moment, but I think they perfectly could be.
“We have Zia Yusuf, probably alongside Nigel Farage as the most important person in Reform, a committed Muslim, a brilliant man. And I’m very glad he’s there at the top of the party.
“So absolutely, Muslims are welcome in Reform. There’s plenty of Muslims.”