A landmark case on religious freedom will be heard today at the European Court of Human Rights today as four workers challenge British judgements over their right to practice their religion in various ways.

The British Government is opposing the four Christians who have taken the case.

The four Christians include two workers forced out of their jobs after visibly wearing crosses, a Relate therapist sacked for saying he would not be comfortable giving sex counselling to homosexual couples, and a Christian registrar who does not wish to conduct civil partnership ceremonies for same-sex couples.

British Airways worker Nadia Eweida, from Twickenham in south-west London, was sent home from her job in 2006 after refusing to remove a necklace with a cross or hide it from view.

An employment tribunal ruled Ms Eweida, whom court documents say is a Coptic Christian originally from Egypt, had not suffered religious discrimination, but the airline changed its uniform policy after the case to allow all religious symbols, including crosses. 

Nurse Shirley Chaplin, from Exeter, was moved to a paperwork role by the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust in Devon after refusing to remove a necklace bearing a crucifix.

Gary McFarlane, a Bristol marriage counsellor, was sacked for refusing to give sex therapy to homosexuals and registrar Lillian Ladele was disciplined after she refused to conduct same-sex civil partnership ceremonies in north London.

The case has been supported by Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, who accused the Prime Minister of “turning the value of ‘tolerance’ on its head”.

Writing in the Daily Mail, he said: “Only two months ago he championed the right of Christians to wear crosses in Parliament in response to a question by one of his own MPs, David Davis, on these European cases.

“Yet at the same time he was making that statement, his lawyers were drafting a legal submission to Strasbourg which opposes the rights of all these Christians.

“These lawyers are expected to speak against the right to wear the cross at court today, saying that the Christian faith doesn’t demand it, and that it is up to the individual concerned.

“Likewise, Government lawyers will also say that it is not necessary for Christians to demonstrate disapproval of gay relationships in order to maintain their faith.”

He added Christians had acted like “doormats” and were facing “new heresy trials”.

The four argue that the actions of their employers contravened articles nine and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibit religious discrimination and allow “freedom of thought, conscience and religion”.

Meanwhile, a senior Church of England cleric has warned that the “human rights agenda” was in danger of becoming a new form of totalitarianism.

In a statement ahead of today’s ECHR hearing, the former Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Revd Michael Nazir-Ali, said the Christian faith and Judaeo-Christian values were the “cornerstone of our freedoms, prosperity and liberty in Europe”.

But he warned of a “deep fear” that such values are under threat from the “Human Rights agenda”.

Bishop Nazir-Ali said: “The abuse of human rights by secular Governments in Central and Eastern Europe is all too recent.

“The new Human Rights agenda must respect Judaeo-Christian values if it is not to become another inhuman ideology imposing restrictions on individuals.

“There is a deep fear in the United Kingdom that the Human Rights agenda is becoming set against human rights; and seeking to remove Judaeo-Christian values from the public square.”