THE TELEGRAPH: Religion will play a crucial role in Coalition policy and should remain at the "heart of society", a senior Tory minister pledged ahead of the Pope's historic visit to Britain.
Baroness Warsi, the Conservative Party chairman, said that the new Government "understands" faith and wanted religious groups to play a greater and more prominent role in Britain, including the provision of public services.
She attacked the previous government for seeking to undermine "the positive power of faith", saying that the Coalition "does God" – a reference to the remark by Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's former spin doctor, who boasted that New Labour did not "do God".
Pope Benedict XVI's four-day tour – the first state papal visit to Britain following the pastoral trip made by John Paul II in 1982 – will begin today in Edinburgh. He will then travel to London where he is expected to urge MPs and peers to show more respect to believers in a key speech in Parliament tomorrow. He is due to meet the Prime Minister privately on Saturday and speak alongside him at Birmingham Airport before his departure on Sunday.
Controversial comments from a senior Vatican figure threatened to overshadow the visit last night. Cardinal Walter Kasper, who has been in charge of promoting Christian unity for the past decade, said that Britain resembled a "Third World country" and was characterised by a "new and aggressive atheism".
Ahead of the Pope's arrival, ministers have sought to stress their religious credentials. David Cameron said earlier this week that the visit provided a "unique opportunity" to celebrate the work of religious groups.
In a speech to Church of England bishops in Oxford, Lady Warsi said that the Coalition was on the side of religion.
The minister without portfolio, the first Muslim woman to serve in the Cabinet, said: "The fact is that our world is more religious than ever. Faith is here to stay. It is part of the fabric of human experience. And in Britain faith is very much alive and kicking."
She added that Britain needed a government that "understands faith, which is comfortable with faith, and which, when necessary, is prepared to speak out about issues of faith". Coalition: 'We will restore faith to heart of Britain’ >>> Robert Winnett and Martin Beckford | Wednesday, Septemebr 15, 2010
Oh Christ! We really do have problems when the most senior Muslimah in the Conservative Party, nay government, starts spouting forth that faith is to be restored to the heart of British society and politics! Is this what David Cameron meant when he spoke of the “Big Society”?
If by “restoring faith” she means restoring the Christian faith, she may have a point. But if she means restoring faith in society, and intending that faith to be Islam, I have a great problem with that statement. She can stuff her Islam! I don’t want amputations for theft in this country, nor stonings to death for adultery, nor beheadings for capital criminals. All those barbaric punishments belong in the sandy regions, in the desert, the home of Islam. – © Mark
