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A ‘Make Great Britain Christian Again’ event in August will see speakers aligned to Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson) and other far-right figures come together in an attempt to boost MAGA-style ‘Christian Nationalism’ on this side of the Atlantic.
At recent protests and rallies, Robinson has been flanked by pastors wearing religious collars, seemingly an attempt to boost his Christian credentials. The Southampton rally over the murder of Henry Nowak saw several fringe Christian figures speak, with the Lord’s Prayer increasingly a fixture of such gatherings.
Representatives from progressive Christian organisations from several denominations have spoken out against the two-day religious gathering.
Many of those speaking at the Make Great Britain Christian Again conference have become regular faces at far-right rallies, particularly aligning themselves with Tommy Robinson’s brand of anti-Islam and “anti-woke” politics. Some have amassed large social media followings off the back of it.
Organising the upcoming event is Reverend Brett Murphy, who attended Robinson’s ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally and runs the X page ‘Make Britain Christian Again’.
Murphy is well known for rhetoric seen as Islamophobic, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-migrant.
He has referred to Pride Month as “an abomination”, and the gay pride flag as the “sodomite flag”, has referred to abortion as “modern day child sacrifice”, spoken about “demographic replacement”, and appeared to refer to Green Party leader Zack Polanski as a “sodomite Jew” in a video falsely accusing the Gorton and Denton by-election of being won because of “vote rigging” by “family voting”.
Like Robinson, his brand of Christian nationalism appears to detest Islam.
In a recent post on X, he described how: “There is now an all out war against our Christian cultural heritage” and that: “The Left and Islam want to rip away our national Christian identity, they want to strip away any mention of Jesus from children in schools, replacing him with diverse teachings on pagan false religions, particularly Islam.”
After being contacted by Byline Times, Murphy posted our questions on Facebook prior to publication in an apparent attempt to get ahead of the story.
He told Byline Times that he hates “all false religions not just Islam, because the Bible says they lead people to the everlasting fire of hell”, adding: “I do not hate Muslims to he [sic] clear, I simply disagree strongly with Islamic theology and ideology.”
After Reform UK launched its ‘Christian Fellowship for Reform’ programme, Murphy seemingly cemented his alignment with the further-right fringe of politics, tweeting that the move was “likely in response to the very clear statements by Ben Habib, Rupert Lowe and Tommy Robinson that Britain must return to Christianity. Nonetheless it is a good thing”.
Murphy reportedly resigned from the Church of England due to its plans to introduce same-sex blessings to places of worship, and was also for a time under investigation for referring to a trans Archdeacon as “a bloke”. He later joined the ‘Free Church of England’ – affiliated with the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON), a deeply conservative US Anglican group.
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He only lasted 13 months there before being stripped of his licence and the FCE stopping all services at his church. He now frequently derides the Church of England as “heretics”, something he re-iterated in his response to Byline Times.
Despite being de-licenced by the Free Church of England, he continues to preach from his one remaining base, the Emmanuel Church in Morecambe – the home of this particular gathering.
He claimed to Byline Times that he retains a licence with the ‘Confessing Anglican Church’, apparently issued a day after the FCE revoked his licence in what he referred to as a “kangaroo court.”
Other Speakers at the Conference
Another speaker, Bishop Ceirion ‘Cei’ Dewar, like Murphy, considers the Church of England to be heretical, and was also present at Robinson’s ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march, though this wasn’t his first outing with the far-right agitator and convicted criminal.
At another of Robinson’s events, a year prior in Whitehall, he addressed the crowd, telling them: “This nation of ours is under attack! We are at war! We are at war not just with the Muslim, not just with wokeness!”
Dewar has rejected the idea that he himself is far-right, but did not respond to Byline Times’ request for comment.
Another of the notable speakers at the event is pastor Chris Wickland of the Living Word Church network, who has spoken at anti-migrant protests and at Tommy Robinson rallies, including ‘Unite the Kingdom’, and recently addressed the crowd in Southampton in the wake of the tragic murder of Henry Nowak.
Wickland has claimed at points that preaching the Christian gospel had been made “illegal” in Bournemouth. In Southampton, he framed Islam as a “false god”, called Britain a “Christian nation”, and said that children were “being sacrificed on the altar for political correctness and multiculturalism”.
He has previously rallied against what he refers to as “hyperliberalism” and prophesied that “the agenda of the highly liberal left will collapse and fall” and that “this nation will start to turn back to her God again”. Wickland confirmed to Byline Times that the comments made by him were accurate.
Another speaker, Aaron Edwards, was recently dismissed from his position at the theological education and training institution Cliff College, after posting on X: “Homosexuality is invading the Church.”
Confirming to Byline Times that he identifies as a Christian nationalist, Edwards said that while he did make the above statement, it was “addressed to fellow evangelicals, not to homosexuals per se”, and that he had attempted to clarify that this was not meant as an attack on the gay community.
Standing by its decision, Cliff College released a statement after Edwards’ ousting, which read that “as a Methodist institution, Cliff College is committed to being a safe and hospitable place where those with differing convictions are welcomed and encouraged to live and learn together as faithful disciples of Christ.” The Methodist Conference voted to marry same-sex couples in church in 2021.
Edwards told Byline Times: “I am speaking at the conference because I believe the Church in Britain needs to stand up more courageously to call Britain back to its Christian foundations.”
Others known to be speaking include Bob of Speakers Corner, also known as ‘Bob the Bulldozer’ – affiliated with ‘Soldier of Christ Online’ (SOCO), and Dominic Leo Muir, who on his social media page has written that: “‘Christian nationalism’ has become the weaponised scare label from the secular overlord who wants a toothless church terrified of being viewed as intolerant, bigoted or ‘unspiritual’.”