A MOST AMERICAN BRIT:

'God will judge me on Iraq invasion' says Blair (JAMES KIRKUP, 3/04/06, The Scotsman)

[I]n tonight's interview, Mr Blair talks at length about his Christianity, confirming that his faith informs his politics.

"If you have a religious belief it does, but it's probably best not to take it too far," he says.

Mr Blair explains his interest in politics ultimately stems from his belief in God, a situation he says he first accepted while he was a student at Oxford University.

"I kind of got into religion and politics at the same time," he says. "I began to think about the world differently. And so I got interested in that at the same time as I became interested in politics."

In the interview, Mr Blair ducks most questions put to him about contemporary politics and his plans for life after Downing Street, but he tacitly admits to some friction with his presumed successor, the Chancellor, Gordon Brown.

"Politics is very hard to have a friendship in," Mr Blair says. "There is only one top job and it's not an ignoble ambition to want it, so there's all those difficulties there."

Last night, news of Mr Blair's comments provoked strong reactions. Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was killed in Basra in 2004, said she was "quite disgusted" at the comments made by the Prime Minister.

The Military Families Against the War campaigner said: "How can he say he is a Christian? A Christian would never put people out there to be killed."