From now on religion will be an integral part of the policies of the Labour government, which will hold “faith awareness” courses for the Civil Service. The idea was inserted by Tony Blair in the last Labour electoral manifesto and has become a reality in recent days. All religious groups, from the main ones such as the Anglicans, Catholics, Muslims and Jewish communities, right down to the smallest, such as the Zoroastrians, will be consulted about any Labour policy or project. The decision represents a complete reversal of the traditional attitude of the government, usually ‘suspicious’ of religion and keen to preserve the secular values of the “politically correct”. The new policy of alertness to the religious dimension is contained in a document entitled “Working together: Cooperation between Government and Faith Communities”, published by the Home Ministry. “A large majority of people in this country have some form of religious faith and we wish to ensure that that the needs and the aspirations of religious communities be taken into consideration while we develop our policies”, said Tony Blair in presenting the document.
