It is in welcoming a poor child into the world and into our hearts that we begin to meet a love that cannot be contained or used as a pawn in any war of position, says Simon Barrow.

The season of Advent is about waiting and anticipation. But what kind of Jesus is the church expecting by the way it behaves, asks Simon Barrow. What is it truly mortgaging itself on?

As the Spirit of Christmas Fair opened in London this morning, its owners Clarion Events faced ridicule over their complacent assertion that they were "entirely comfortable" with their recent purchase of arms fairs.

Campaigners against the arms trade are recruiting Christmas characters to embarrass organisers of a family exhibition who are also backing death-dealing weapons exports. They are invoking the real 'reason for the season'.