So, who was telling the truth? The sources in Downing Street who said they’d been given assurances that the Greek Prime Minister would not speak publicly about the Parthenon Sculptures - also known as the Elgin Marbles - on his UK visit or the Greek source that denied it.

It led of course to the cancellation of Mr Mitsotakis’s ‘friendly chat’ with Mr Sunak and his choosing to leave the UK rather than spend a couple of hours with his replacement, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden. One government minister said (diplomatically of course) that it was a ‘matter of regret’ that no meeting would take place between the two countries.

I fully agree with him, but I have to say that I am even more disappointed to be placed in the position where I have to decide who was telling the truth. Why is there so much spin, counter spin and disingenuity in political life? If we could trust the words of our political leaders as much as we can trust the words of Jesus, the world would be a much happier and far more peaceful place.

It’s the same when it comes to the contentious issue of the Elgin marbles. They have been the cause of controversy for decades with Greek and British politicians clashing over these magnificent artefacts. Yes, its wonderful to have them in the British museum but do we have the right to keep them there? I’ve read that Lord Elgin insisted that he had permission to remove the sculptures but I’ve also read that the original letter giving him permission has been lost and the wording of what remains is disputed.

So where lies the truth? Sadly, contentious issues like this are a sobering reminder of just how often we fail to let our ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and our ‘No’ be ‘No’ even though we know that regularly leads to disagreement and a breakdown of relationships.

I was even more saddened by the Prime Minister’s decision to cancel his meeting with the Greek PM.

Christmas shows us a very different approach to things. For If we think of Jesus as God’s ‘word made flesh’ (as the apostle John describes Him) we can see that God will go to any length and spare no effort to communicate with us. He may disagree with us, but He does want to reason with us. In fact, He wants to be friends with us and is desperate to re-establish an ongoing relationship with us whoever we are and whatever we’ve done.

I’m reminded of this whenever I sing the well- known carol ‘While shepherds watched their flocks by night’ given the reputation of shepherds in first century Palestine. They were not only considered to be downright irreligious they had a reputation for shady dealings. In fact, one scholar has gone so far as to say that they were generally held to be thoroughly dishonest and that ‘things went missing when the shepherds came to town’.

And yet God took the initiative to announce His Son’s birth to shepherds! All of which makes me wonder why our Prime Minister wouldn’t talk to his Greek opposite number simply because he had mentioned the Elgin Marbles. But before we criticise him it might be good to take a look at ourselves first just in case we’re making the same mistake and need to do something about it. For if there was ever a time for talking to people, especially to those with whom we disagree, it has to be Christmas.