The world has become increasingly aware that religious liberty and freedom of speech is under serious threat in Great Britain. At its root, the attack is directed at Christ and His position and role in the public discourse of our nation.
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance drew international attention to this reality in his February 2025 address at the Munich Security Conference, where he warned European governments that democratic norms were being steadily eroded. Ever since, people have been paying attention to what is happening in the United Kingdom.
They are right to do so.
In recent years, British citizens have been arrested or prosecuted for praying silently in abortion “safe access zones.” Others have faced investigation for refusing to use mandated gender pronouns. In other cases, posting the “wrong” kind of tweet has resulted in police knocking at the door of the accused.
But Christians in Britain have had their freedom curtailed for much longer than most realize.
As early as 2001, a 69-year-old street preacher named Harry Hammond stood in the small seaside town of Bournemouth holding a sign that read: “Jesus Gives Peace, Jesus Is Alive, Stop Immorality, Stop Homosexuality, Stop Lesbianism, Jesus Is Lord.” It was a somewhat controversial message, but not a threatening or abusive one.
A hostile crowd of young people quickly surrounded him. They threw soil and water, attempted to seize his sign, knocked him to the ground and assaulted him. When the police arrived, they arrested not the attackers, but Harry. Because he refused to leave, he was charged under the Public Order Act. He was convicted for provoking the violence he had suffered, and the High Court later upheld the ruling, claiming his actions went “beyond legitimate protest.” Not long after, he died, and we at Christian Concern were refused permission to appeal the ruling.
Over the past two decades, our legal team has defended Christian freedoms across the country, winning numerous cases for street preachers and public witnesses. Many have been arrested for expressing Biblical beliefs about sexuality. Others, such as evangelist Hatun Tash, have been targeted for critiquing Islam in public settings. In her case, police repeatedly sided with aggressive mobs rather than protecting her lawful speech. With the introduction of abortion “safe access zones,” even silent prayer or holding signs with Bible verses can now lead to prosecution, as seen in the case of Stephen Green.
These pressures extend well beyond street ministry. We regularly represent Christians who have been disciplined or dismissed from their jobs for expressing orthodox Christian beliefs. Early cases involved health care workers such as Caroline Petrie and Sarah Kuteh, who were punished simply for offering to pray for patients or colleagues. When the courts failed to protect them, the situation deteriorated further.
Professionals like Dr. David Mackereth and teacher Joshua Sutcliffe lost their livelihoods for refusing to affirm falsehoods about gender identity. Kristie Higgs was dismissed after sharing two private Facebook posts criticizing pro-transgender materials used with elementary-age children. After six years of legal proceedings, the Court of Appeal finally ruled in her favor in 2025, delivering a landmark judgment protecting free expression.
Yet even legal victories do not always bring true freedom. Social worker Felix Ngole won his case in 2019, only to have a subsequent job offer withdrawn years later when his prospective employer discovered his Christian beliefs. They claimed, without evidence, that if members of the public identifying as LGBTQ became aware of his Christian views, some might kill themselves.
What we are witnessing is not a series of isolated legal missteps. It is the gradual dismantling of the Christian moral and political framework that once sustained liberty in Britain. Religious freedom is eroding because our culture has abandoned Christ and the theological foundations that made freedom possible in the first place. Under an equality and diversity, anti-discrimination framework, hard-left secular liberals tolerate and make space for political Islam in the name of religious freedom. But neither secular liberalism nor political Islam tolerates the expression and manifestation of the Christian faith where Christ confronts the falsehood of those beliefs.
The rights now under threat—freedom of conscience, speech, and worship—were birthed from the Christian conviction that every person first stands accountable to God, not the state. When the Christian conviction is removed, the secular state, which is never neutral, expands to fill the vacuum. Once Christ is no longer recognized as Lord over national life, political authority becomes absolute, and Christian dissent becomes suspect.
This is why, in the U.K., Biblical belief is increasingly reframed as harm, conscience as discrimination, and faith as acceptable only when it is private, muted, and compliant. While litigation is vital, the recovery of moral courage in the church and the conviction of her voice in the public square is most necessary. What is required is a Biblical vision of public life lived under God’s authority, where law serves truth, freedom flows from responsibility, and human dignity is rooted in creation, not ideology.
Is religious liberty dying in the U.K.? I would say it has been in intensive care for at least 20 years. And at Christian Concern, we have never given up contending in the courts, Parliament, and media.
Keeping quiet is not an option. As Christians, we are ambassadors for Christ, called to speak with truth and grace. The Great Commission does not stop at personal faith; it extends to teaching nations to observe all that Christ has commanded. We must continue to speak, to serve, and to contend, trusting God to bring transformation.
