Would you cancel Christmas? Pic: Pippa Bailey
With the final countdown to Christmas now upon us, as most people are making their final preparations for what should be a joyous day, not all Britons are as excited about the celebration.
One in six people would cancel Christmas altogether while one out of five say they don’t like the festive celebration, a survey revealed.
YouGov, the international opinion centre that conducted the survey, asked a total of 1888 Britons revealing that even though most are still positive about Christmas with 78 per cent saying wouldn’t cancel, 16 per cent said they would.
Compared to its European neighbours British people are in fact more positive about the festive season only exceeded by Norway and Denmark.
So ELL took to the streets from Hackney to Croydon to ask local people whether they would consider cancelling Christmas.
Laura Ninou. Pic: Mathilde Ive
Laura Ninou, 23, student, Hackney
“I was brought up with Christmas, it is part of my tradition, so I would be really disappointed if we cancelled it. Even if it’s got all of these issues of capitalism and spending money, it is part of us now a days.”
Sean Creighton. Pic: Mathilde Ive
Sean Creighton, 67, pensioner, Croydon
“Yes and no. Because it is so commercial now, yes. In terms of family and friends coming together, no.
“But the commercialisation – you know, I am just fed up with it. It starts in November. We get overloaded with [shops] just trying to get our money off us and for a lot people it has become more and more of a challenge because their income has gone down. In Croydon we have 24 per cent living on a low income.”
Daniel Stocks. Pic: Mathilde Ive
Daniel Stocks, 21, bar manager, Tower Hamlets
“I wouldn’t cancel Christmas because it gives me a chance to go back home and see my family. If it wasn’t for Christmas I probably wouldn’t go home, to be honest. I lead a busy life so it gives me time to sit back for a couple of days.”
Claire Palmer. Pic: Mathilde Ive
Claire Palmer, 39, caretaker, Lewisham
“Christmas is a lot of fuss for one day. It is not really about people coming together anymore. It is more about how much you spend. Even shopping, there are no good tidings anymore: people will be fighting over the last turkey sort of thing.”
“It is just completely different from what it used to be. The only reason I would celebrate it, is because of my granddaughter, other than that I am not interested.”
Norman Aslam. Pic: Mathilde Ive
Norman Aslam, 28, sales assistant, Croydon
“Cancel? No I would never cancel Christmas. It is that one time of year where you can celebrate with other people. Coming from different backgrounds and different histories. Cultural, religious, everything really.”
Michael Desmond. Pic: Mathilde Ive
Michael Desmond, 58, Hackney Councillor and speaker of Hackney Council, Hackney
“I am in favour of keeping Christmas. It is a good season of spirit and good will, happiness and joy. It is a good thing generally. I am happy with Christmas and would never cancel it.”
