In recent years, as the festive season draws closer, stories inevitably emerge about how ‘political correctness has gone mad’, with council officers censoring Christmas carols on the grounds of ‘religious preference’, re-branding Christmas ‘Winterval’ and preventing people from hanging up decorations or bringing home-made food to school Christmas parties in the name of ‘health and safety’. But for evidence that environmentalism is now overriding ‘PC’ favourites like multiculturalism and health and safety, look no further than Evan James Primary School in Wales, which has banned Christmas cards – on environmental grounds.

The reasons for not having cards are endless’, head teacher Nicholas Daniels claims...Daniels’ argument was explicitly moral. ‘We did take a strong moral ground on the matter… We knew we would face opposition but we decided to do this on moral and environmental grounds. Cards in school cause litter problems and can become a popularity contest about who gets the most.’