Can you help identify this tree from my garden?
It's a Juniper, genus Juniperus.

If will feel prickly, and if you run your hand along the branch from the out to the inside it will feel very prickly. If you run your hand in to out, it will be marginally less so, but still uncomfortable,

Crushing the leaves in your fingers will release a sharp, tangy, not unpleasant smell.

Juniper Juniperus communis is native to some parts of in England, Scotland and Wales, and north and west of Ireland, and in fact most of the temperate forest regions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_communis#/media/File:Juniperus_communis_range_map.png

The berries are used to flavour gin.

However there are many other species of Juniperus that are often planted as ornamental trees, so it could well be one of these. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniper

Best way for a positive ID is take a small bit with you to a large garden centre, or arboretum, and head to the juniper section and compare the look, feel and smell of the specimens.