These 'they've banned Christmas' stories start earlier every year!

They don't actually.  Last year, the Observer reported on 2 November that Oxford City Council had banned all reference to Christmas in its WinterLight Festival (which was nonsense).  This year, it wasn't until the 13th that the Times managed 'Christmas lights switch-on ceremony renamed ‘Winter White Night’'.  Guess what?  It's nonsense!



Okay, Dundee Council really have named the night the Christmas lights get switched on 'Winter Light Night' (not 'white', see), but according to the Times:

Christmas will not be Christmas in Dundee this year. All references to the religious holiday have been dropped from the switching-on ceremony for the city’s festive lights.

Sounds familiar.  In fact, it sounds almost exactly the same as last year's nonsense about Oxford.  Let's see what Dundee Council's coverage of the event says, at 'Winter Light Night set to shine a spotlight on Dundee'.  Apparently, there's loads of stuff going on including fireworks, performances, late opening of shops and 'cultural buildings' and - what's this?:

Winter Light Night will also be the first showcase of the city's 2009 Christmas lights.

Oh.  What about the council's Winter Light Night Programme?  There's this:

There is something for everyone at Winter Light Night: see the city;s Christmas Lights for the first time, watch the children's faces as they meet Sparky the Robot and the Christmas Fairy, discover something new about Dundee, do a spot of Christmas Shopping or just take in the sights and sounds.

That looks like three mentions of the word 'Christmas' in one sentence.  But...but...all references to the religious holiday have been dropped!  This is the national newspaper of record.  Surely, the Times can't be involved in prurient bandwagon jumping, could it?

How does the event kick off?:

Listen to the church bells ringing out across the city centre - the signal that Dundee is about to start celebrating.

Church bells?  When will these Marxists trying to destroy our country as we know it realise that this is a Christian country?  Oh.  I thought that said 'Mosque Speakers' for a second there.


What's happened is that the Council are putting on a great big event that covers more than just switching on Christmas Lights - which they're still having and still calling Christmas Lights, along with lots of other Christmassy stuff.  They've just decided to give the great big event a different name.

Here's how the Council goes further to eradicate references to Christmas this year.  In November's event listings (from the 15th onwards), there are 43 entries with the word 'Christmas' in the heading.  In December's, there are 119.

Damn you, PC Brigade!  Damn you for not including the word Christmas in the name of one event and only including it in one hundred and sixty two others!  Is nothing sacred?