BLAIR'S DEMISE: Happy-clappy Bliar
socialist
Happy-clappy Bliar
Unhinged, nothing to apologise for, happy-clappy Tony Blair wants to put
religious bigotry at the centre of British politics. Now where did he get
that idea from?
Coming soon - Blair to be exposed as an extremist Rapture Christian bigot
(with supporting evidence:).
And on the seventh day Tony Blair created...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1011460,00.html
And on the seventh day Tony Blair created...
It may prove an uphill struggle in this secular day and age, but the Prime
Minister is aiming to put religion right at the centre of government. Kamal
Ahmed reports on a major break with British tradition
Sunday August 3, 2003
The Observer
Tony Blair knows it is one of the most delicate of subjects. When asked about
it he squirms and tries to change to a more comfortable line of inquiry. But
quietly the Prime Minister is putting religion at the centre of the New Labour
project, reflecting his own deeply felt beliefs that answers to most questions
can be found in the Bible.
The Observer can reveal that Blair is to allow Christian organisations and
other 'faith groups' a central role in policy-making in a decisive break with
British traditions that religion and government should not mix.
The Prime Minister, who this weekend becomes the longest continually serving
Labour Prime Minister in history, has set up a ministerial working group in
the Home Office charged with injecting religious ideas 'across Whitehall'. One
expert on the relationship between politics and religion described the move
as a 'blow to secularism'.
Blair's move is believed to have the strong support of the two other leading
Christian members of the Cabinet, David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, and
Paul Boateng, Chief Secretary of the Treasury.
The working group will be chaired by the Home Office Minister with
responsibility for what is called 'civic renewal', Fiona Mactaggart. The
members will include Estelle Morris, the former Education Secretary who is
now the Arts Minister, and Christian organisations including the Evangelical
Alliance. Known as the Faith Community Liaison Group, it will have an input
into controversial policy areas such as faith schools, which are allowed to
select their pupils on the basis of their beliefs, and religious discrimination.
Blair, a committed Christian who keeps the Bible by his bed, knows he is
taking a risk by revealing the importance he places on religion in informing
his politics. He also knows that many of his key officials feel uncomfortable
about the central role that God plays in his life. There were furrowed brows
of consternation when Blair, asked who he would answer to for the deaths of
British soldiers, replied: 'My Maker'.
Alastair Campbell, Blair's communications director, said 'We don't do God'
when the Prime Minister was questioned in a recent interview with Vanity
Fair about his religious beliefs. When Blair wanted to end his televised
address to the nation at the start of the war in Iraq with 'God bless you',
he was advised against it.
Some No 10 officials are concerned that the Government will fall victim
to unfavourable comparisons with the Republican administration in America,
where President Bush makes no secret of his religious faith and right-wing
religious organisations have a powerful input into policy-making, particularly
on sensitive issues such as abortion.
Blair, in contrast, has always been cautious about speaking about his faith. He
sidestepped questions from Sir David Frost last year and Jeremy Paxman this
year when both asked if he prayed with the US President when they met at
summits to discuss the Iraq war.
The new high-powered ministerial grouping will have an input across
government. Although based in the Home Office, it will advise the Departments
for Education, Culture, Media and Sport and Trade and Industry.
Underlining its importance, William Chapman, the Appointments Secretary at
No 10, will have a key role. The Prime Minister's own 'religious envoy',
Labour MP John Battle, will also sit on the committee.
The Home Office announcement was slipped out in a parliamentary written reply
four weeks ago, and published here for the first time. In it, Mactaggart
outlines what the group will attempt to do: 'Its terms of reference are to
consider the most effective means of achieving greater involvement of the
faith communities in policy-making and delivery across Whitehall [and] to
identify the specific policy areas where this input would be most valuable.
'The Prime Minister is aware of our plans and attaches considerable importance
to this. It will lay down the foundations for the effective involvement of
the faith communities' perspectives and needs in policy development across
government.'
Membership of the committee will also include representatives of the Jewish,
Sikh, Muslim and Hindu faiths.
Non-religious groups attacked the plans, saying they gave a special platform
to religious groups denied to others. In a letter to Mactaggart, Keith Wood,
executive director of the National Secular Society, which includes in its
membership a number of Labour MPs, said: 'We feel this is a further example
of the Government's desire to favour and privilege religious organisations,
and wonder when the opinions and needs of those who are non-religious will
be similarly regarded. The non-religious feel alienated and excluded from
the political processes that help shape our society.'
Wood said that despite repeated requests non-religious groups have been
excluded from any involvement in the religious working group.
Christian organisations said that there was much that could be learnt from
religious groups and the work they do in the community. 'This is an important
development that goes way beyond a narrower set of faith community concerns
like faith schools or regeneration,' said Graham Dale, director of the
Christian Socialist Movement, of which Blair is a member.
'The group will have the freedom to engage in policy issues across the board
but also to address other less tangible areas like values in public life. It
raises to a new level the recognition of faith as a factor in government
consultation and indicates the Government's willingness to engage with people
of faith in every area of public life.
'It therefore also represents a blow to secularism. As the 2001 census
revealed, four in every five people in Britain still align themselves with
one of the major faiths. The group is a bold step forward in getting better
representation of faith groups in politics, and getting their views and
opinions heard in policy formulation.'
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