A Labour cabinet minister has said that the Labour Party must take on board the concerns of religious voters if the party is to win a fourth term in power.
Jim Murphy, MP for East Renfrewshire and Secretary of State for Scotland, said in his keynote speech at the Commons to Progress, a Labour think tank, that more than five million people have visited a place of worship in the last month, making them one of the largest demographic groups in the 2010 general election battle. Mr Murphy is facing tough competition from the Conservatives for every vote.
His speech was designed to woo Christians disillusioned with Labour following the Labour Government’s controversial equality agenda.
In his speech, Mr Murphy pointed to the fact that Christian faith has played a central part in US politics for a long time and it is wrong to disregard it in British politics, given the large figure of believers.
‘That’s a hugely significant figure. Faith voters massively outweigh ‘Motorway Men’ or ‘Worcester Woman’ or any other trendy demographic group identified by marketers.
‘Our lead amongst them in 2005 needs to be replicated in the coming election and it will be if we reflect and respect their values and aspirations in our policies, as I believe we should.’
‘In the US, faith has long played a central part in politics. Not surprising for a country where 60% of people say that God plays an important part in their lives,’ he said.
He said that the Labour Party was founded on the principles of Christian socialism, which had led the trade union struggle for working class rights ‘against a privileged Establishment’.
Mr Murphy cited research conducted at the time of the 2005 general election suggesting Labour won 31 per cent of the religious vote, nine points more than the Conservatives.
However, Mr Murphy’s statement and Labour’s controversial policies towards Christians were met with harsh criticism pointing out that Labour is undermining rather than supporting Christian values.
Church leaders say that the Government had consistently undermined religious freedom by ignoring objections to new laws permitting experimentation on embryos, civil partnerships, same-sex adoption and abortion.
Cardinal Keith O’Brien said the Government conducted its ‘unrelenting attack on family values’ and that he could not think of a ‘tangible example’ of the Government embracing the views of the Catholic Church in the past decade.
He said that ‘a tangible example by the Government over the last decade that it acknowledged or endorsed religious values would also have been welcomed.
‘Instead we have witnessed this Government undertake a systematic and unrelenting attack on family values. This is a charge I personally put to Gordon Brown when we met in 2008 and I have seen no evidence since then to suggest anything has changed.
‘When introducing legislation to permit experimentation on and destruction of human embryos the objections of the Church and other faiths were ignored.
‘When introducing legislation to permit civil partnerships and same-sex adoption, the objections of the Church and other faiths were ignored. In refusing to tackle the soaring toll of abortions, the views of the Church and other faiths were ignored.
‘Most recently, in advancing legislation which would completely and permanently undermine religious freedom, this Government has taken no note whatsoever of the concerns of people of faith,’ he said.
The leader of Scotland’s 750,000 Catholics then listed a series of new laws that have been passed despite the objections of the church.
Rev Brian Ross wrote in his letter to Scotsman:
‘... this is also the same Mr Murphy who was apparently happy to support the present government in its attempts to add further restrictions to the Equality Bill – thankfully blocked by the House of Lords – that would have removed the right of churches and other Christian organisations to refuse to employ persons who do not share their core beliefs, in particular those whose sexual conduct is contrary to the teachings of the Bible.’
At the beginning of this month, a senior Church of England bishop has condemned the Labour Government for forcing God out of politics. He warned that the British public had been left to ‘lurch in a sea of amoralism’, with the Prime Minister becoming akin to an ‘absolute monarch’ with little or no accountability.