I grew up in a household that regularly attended Church, even on holidays when we would find a church to attend, more out of duty than enjoyment. Christmas was always a very special time and there was the excitement of being in a building bursting to the seams with people who wanted to mark the occasion by reflecting on the origins of an important festival. Once I was old enough to be in Church late at night, the midnight service on Christmas Eve and to a lesser extent New Years Eve was always entertaining thanks to the attendance of people who had drunk until closing time and then looked for somewhere else to go. The problem with these high day and holiday services was that people who were unfamiliar with the environment often felt uncomfortable and didn’t always enjoy the experience, but they appeared to feel this was what was expected of them. The idea that once a year senior political leaders feel they need to make seasonal statements seems relatively recent in my memory. This seems to be an attempt to make us feel that they care, or indeed that they matter even though this is clearly not their time. One of the problems is that religion, like democracy is an idea that should go beyond one event every year or every 5 years. As someone who believes that Christianity is for life and not just for Christmas, I would like to see some evidence of David Cameron’s commitment to leading his Government by the values he claims that are the heart of our nation. That means a commitment to helping everyone in society, not just those who support his political ideas. Sadly our democracy, in reality reflects this comment by Charles Bukowski who said “The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don’t have to waste your time voting.” David Cameron and his colleagues appear to want our opinions to be expressed, every 5 years, but after that not so much. I would far rather he had a go at fixing some of the problems with our democracy, than making sanctimonious speeches about Christmas, but that’s just my view.