Reform UK said it would grant listed status to churches across Britain to prevent their conversion into mosques if the party enters government, setting out a proposal it says would protect the country’s Christian heritage.
Zia Yusuf, the party’s home affairs spokesman plans to present the policy as part of an effort to preserve Christianity as central to Britain’s national identity, The Telegraph reported.
The plan would give immediate listed status to about 40,000 churches, restricting changes that affect their historic character and limiting their ability to be repurposed.
Yusuf, a practicing Muslim, said the move aimed to ensure Christianity remains “core” to Britain’s history and the “DNA of the country.” He linked the proposal to larger concerns about social cohesion and immigration, arguing that rapid demographic change had affected a “high-trust society.”
He was quoted as telling The Times that large numbers of arrivals from “low-trust societies” had contributed to that erosion, adding that the trend was “obviously true.”
Under the proposal, Reform would also create a new planning category for churches that would block their conversion into places of worship for other religions. At present, many places of worship in England fall under the F1 use class, where changes can occur without full planning permission.
Reform UK Party vows to save churches turning into mosques | Church & Ministries
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