I hate stories like this – Christmas is axed in Oxford – which is what I expect from most of the UK’s newspapers. However it’s not what I expect from The Observer – Rowan Walker who works on the papers newsdesk wrote.

Council leaders in Oxford have decided to ban the word Christmas from this year’s festive celebrations to make them more ‘inclusive’. But the decision to rename the series of events the ‘Winter Light Festival’ has been criticised by religious leaders and locals said it was ‘ludicrous’.

Sabir Hussain Mirza, chairman of the Muslim Council of Oxford, said: ‘This is the one occasion which everyone looks forward to in the year. Christians, Muslims and other religions all look forward to Christmas. I’m angry and very, very disappointed. Christmas is special and we shouldn’t ignore it.

‘Christian people should be offended and 99 per cent of people will be against this. Christmas is part of being British.’

Rabbi Eli Bracknell, who teaches at the Jewish Educational Centre, said: ‘It’s important to maintain a traditional British Christmas. Anything that waters down traditional culture and Christianity in the UK is not positive for the British identity.’

The idea came from the charity Oxford Inspires, which was set up to promote culture in the area. Tei Williams, a press officer for the charity, said: ‘In Oxfordshire we have Winter Light which is a whole festival spanning two months. Within that will be Christmas carol services.’

Deputy leader of the council Ed Turner added: ‘There’s going to be a Christmas tree, and even if the lights are called something else to me they will be Christmas lights.’

As you read that you know there’s hardly a word of truth. Five Chinese Crackers carries out a little piece of journalism that’s eluded Roman Walker,

So, what do Oxford Inspires have to say for themselves, Christmas banning bastards that they are? The WinterLight page on their website says:

A dazzling calendar of events for the festive season is taking shape highlighting Christmas light switch-ons, pantomimes and special outdoor events in towns all across the county including Oxford’s WinterLight on Friday 28 November. [Emphasis mine]

What’s that Skippy? Are you trying to tell us something? The people who have banned the word Christmas have actually used the word Christmas? Why, that would make the whole article look a bit silly, so that can’t be true.

Maybe it’s not Oxford Inspires that have banned the word ‘Christmas’, but the council itself. What does their website have to say? Well, there’s ‘Christmas at Christ Church’ on 17 December, and again on 20 December, and there are ‘Christmas Arias on Ice’ on 21 and 22 December all in the events section. So it would appear that the Council haven’t banned the word either. To make matters worse, it seems that Oxford Inspires is a separate body from the council, and even if their WinterLights event completely excised all mention of Christmas, it would have no bearing on what the council did or didn’t do for Christmas.

When are newspapers going to stop employing such lazy journalists?