| Formation | April 2006 |
|---|---|
| Type | Christian lobby group |
| Website | www.christiancouncilofbritain.co.uk |
The Christian Council of Britain (CCoB) is an organisation founded by Rev Robert West. While it claims to be "an independent, non-political organisation autonomous of any political party in Britain," the CCoB is closely associated with the British National Party.[1][2][3]
West, a former Conservative Party councillor who was suspended from Lincoln's race equality council in 2006 due to his links with the BNP[4] later stood for them in the 2009 Norwich North by-election and Lincoln in the General election of 2010 losing his deposit in both cases. He also stood unsuccessfully in the 2009 European elections in the East Midlands region.
The BNP states that the CCoB will evolve to become a church in its own right with its own membership, separate from that of existing Christian churches. In January 2010, the CCoB held a Christian service in a hall in Loughton, Essex.[5]
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Taking its name directly in imitation of the Muslim Council of Britain, the BNP claims the Council was set up by British Christians of various denominations with assistance from members and supporters of the BNP in April 2006. BNP web editor Steve Blake who runs an IT consultancy registered the URL christiancouncil.org.uk on behalf of the CCoB and provided a basic template for the fledgling organisation's website.[6] The Observer reported on April 16, 2006 that Clive Potter, another member of the BNP was to be the president of the CCoB.[7]
Although non-denominational the CCoB has adopted reformed Protestant Christianity as its official doctrinal basis. It has identified the main challenges to the existence of a Christian national identity to be Islam and political correctness. The CCoB is opposed to female ordination and leadership and the ordination of homosexual men. The Council believes that there is a 'godly importance of race and nation' and 'especially' welcomes white British Christians into membership of the organisation.[8]
The Christian Council of Britain has been criticised by a number of mainline British Christian organisations who claim that 'Christian belief is incompatible with any political party or philosophy that is based on hatred or treats people as inferior because of their race, beliefs or for any other reason'[9][10] and argues against the CCoB's theological views on separation of races.