DOING GOD:

Pragmatic PM proves a Christian contradiction (JAMES KIRKUP, 1/07/05, The Scotsman)

IS GOD welcome in the House of Commons? Is government about making choices between good and evil? Is there room for morality in politics?

To one Labour man centrally involved in British politics today, the answer is a resounding "yes". His faith is deep-rooted and all-embracing, influencing if not deciding just about every major decision he has taken in recent years. To him, morality matters. Absolutely.

But ask another Labour politician who has reached the top of the greasy pole and the answer is rather different. For him, a "good" government is simply one that delivers efficient administration, running a healthy economy and delivering good public services. Beyond upholding the law, the state has no real business in the private lives of its citizens. And we don’t do God.

Another rift at the heart of government? Gordon Brown’s Church of Scotland socialism pitted against Tony Blair’s metropolitan secularism? Not quite.

The first politician whose beliefs are sketched here is Tony Blair, the Prime Minister. And so is the second.

At his monthly press conference in Downing Street yesterday, all eyes were on Mr Blair for signs of tension with Mr Brown. The inflections, the gestures, the body language all subject to Westminster Kremlinology for the merest hint of unease.

And hints there were. From my vantage point in the second row - just behind Andrew Marr’s right ear - I can faithfully report that Mr Blair was left genuinely uncomfortable by some of the questions thrown at him. Only they were the ones about God, not Gordon.

He really belongs in America, where there is no contradiction between faith and politics.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 10, 2005 5:05 PM