Herald Express weatherman says if you don't like Christian ways, you 'should go and live somewhere else'

By Kevin Dixon, on Monday, June 7, 2010

Prayers at the start of Torbay Council meetings have been defended by Freeman of the Borough, Ernest Freed.

The Jewish Mr Freed, who is also the Herald Express weatherman, said: “If someone who lives in this country doesn’t like Christian ways they should go and live somewhere else.”

Devon Humanists have responded by saying: “The inference is that ‘outsiders’ or ‘foreigners’ are responsible for questioning the dominance of the Christian faith in the Council Chamber. This does need to be challenged.

“It is local people who feel that the insistence on prayers is a barrier to involvement in our democracy. We all pay for the council, so we should all feel that the Council represents us equally.

“Around half of Torbay’s population are not Christians. We are a society of many faiths and – increasingly – of no religion at all. Indeed, some local Christians are uneasy about such a close relationship between councillors and the established church.

“Some of us believe that anything that contributes to an impression that local government is centered around a particular gender, age, ethnicity, social class or faith should be challenged.

“This isn’t about banning or rejecting Christianity, but in embracing all beliefs across our community. We would object just as strongly if it were prayers from a faith other than Christianity, or if there were a dominant party political ritual. There have been councils where they sang the Red Flag before meetings, for example.

“Understandably, there will be some who resent how Torbay is changing. They may also react with hostility, hurt and bemusement when asked to give up a privilege they have held for many years. But times move on. The Bay is no longer the setting of an Agatha Christie novel – which incidentally also displayed a fear of change.

“Suggesting that non-Christians should keep quiet or leave the Bay will not help to achieve harmony among those faiths and beliefs that we should be proud to have represented in our three towns.

“To their credit, local inter-faith groups have a compromise solution that works well. They have a few minutes undirected silence where all faiths and beliefs can pray if they so wish, or just gather their thoughts.

“Is such a level playing field for all not a reasonable way forward? Or will some councillors continue to deny the reality of our modern Torbay, until perhaps compelled to do so by the current action in the High Court?”

• The High Court Judicial Review is described in this Independent article, which also mentions Torbay Council