David Cameron's Conservatives, as they styled themselves in the Ealing Southall by-election, have made bank holidays for non-Christian religious festivals part of their policy platform, Christian Voice has learned.
The promise, to give Asian religious holidays the same status as Christmas, was broadcast over loudhailers from cars working the
West London
constituency on election day last week.
The desperate attempt to win votes was only broadcast in Asian vernacular languages, but it backfired as voters pushed Cameron's hand-picked candidate into third place.
Stephen Green, National Director of Christian Voice, said today: 'This just illustrates David Cameron at his opportunistic, dishonest and patronising worst. Firstly, in this majority-Asian constituency, he suddenly thought there was political money in promising to elevate Eid, Diwali and Guru Nanak's birthday to the same status as Christmas. Secondly, he attempted to cover his tracks by only putting the policy out in Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi. Thirdly, he reckoned that Asian voters were so stupid that this sop would make his party seem electable to them.
'In reality, apart from those Muslims who long for Britain to be an Islamic state, most Asian voters want to see Britain assert its Christian heritage. They feel betrayed by secularism and they don't want to be part of an aimless, multi-religious swamp. They also respect people who have principles and stick to them. This bizarre policy initiative just confirms that under David Cameron there is nothing of our heritage the Conservatives value enough to want to conserve.
'Coming so soon after the marriage tax-break debacle, when financial incentives for marriage were proposed by Iain Duncan-Smith's think tank only for Cameron to say they would also be offered to homosexual couples, it is no wonder that the fiercely family-minded Asian communities were less than impressed by "David Cameron's Conservatives".'
Rev George Hargreaves, leader of the Christian Party, whose candidate in Southall nearly beat UKIP, said: 'To elevate Eid or Diwali to the same status as Christmas would not only undermine Christianity in
Britain
; it would totally destroy British culture. To not even use English to convey this policy is nothing less than treacherous.'
ENDS
