The former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has warned that there are attempts to “stealthily and subtly” brush aside the Christian faith in the UK.

Lord Carey (pictured) was writing in a leaflet promoting a “Not Ashamed” campaign which encourages Christians to express their beliefs in public and at work. The campaign is organised by the religious liberty group, Christian Concern.

He said examples of the sidelining of Christianity have been mounting in recent years: “Teachers and council employees are suspended for offering to ‘say a prayer’.

He also noted the plight of Catholic adoption agencies, most of which have closed or have been forced to abandon their religious ethos as a result of equality regulations.

According to its website, the campaign aims to provide “an opportunity for Christians across the UK to stand together and speak up” for the Christian foundation of that nation.

The campaign also highlights attacks on “the truths, values and behaviour” consistent with Christianity.

“There is mounting pressure to exclude Jesus Christ from the public domain, consigning Him instead to the realm of the ‘private and personal’. Increasingly, Christians are encountering attempts to restrict their freedom to speak and live in accordance with biblical teaching in the workplace and in public life,” the website says.

It points to examples of Christians being persecuted for expressing their beliefs, such as Lydia Playfoot, who was punished at school for wearing her ‘silver ring’ as a sign of her commitment to biblical teaching on saving sex until marriage and Gary McParlane, a counsellor who was sacked for expressing a conscientious objection to giving sex therapy to homosexual couples

Helping to launch the campaign, Lord Carey warned that the attempt to ‘air-brush’ the Christian faith is “especially obvious as Christmas approaches”.

“The cards that used to carry Christmas wishes now bear ‘Season’s greetings’. The local school nativity play is watered down or disappears altogether.

“The local council switches on ‘Winter lights’ in place of Christmas decorations. Even Christmas has become something of which some are ashamed.”

He said: “So, it appears that flowing from a combination of well-meaning political correctness, multiculturalism and overt opposition to Christianity, a new climate, hostile to our country’s tradition and history, is developing.”

However he remarked on figures from the last census that showed almost 72 per cent of the population chose to identify themselves as Christians.

Meanwhile a senior UK minister has said that local authorities in the UK should celebrate Christmas in the traditional Christian way and stop worrying about the PC brigade.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has hit out at “politically correct Grinches” and called for an end to “Christianophobia”. Mr Pickles said councils should stop introducing ‘politically correct’ versions of Christmas such as “Winterval”, which combines secular and inter-faith religious elements.

The Communities Secretary called for councils to take pride in British Christian heritage by celebrating the nativity and all the traditions surrounding it.

He said: “We should actively celebrate the Christian basis of Christmas, and not allow politically correct Grinches to marginalise Christianity and the importance of the birth of Christ, The war on Christmas is over, and the likes of Winterval, Winter Lights and Luminous deserve to be in the dustbin of history.

“We live in tough financial times, but there’s no need for town halls to play Scrooge.”