Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, has issued the following message on the first day of Chanukah: "I would like to send festive greetings to everyone celebrating Chanukah over the coming days. Every year, this is a very important event in the UK calender of religious festivals."
"Chanukah is a festival of lights which celebrates the Maccabees successfully rebelling again Antiochus IV. A candle is lit for eight nights to signify each day that the wicks of menorah miraculously burned despite only having enough sacred oil for one day."