Bishop 'sorry' Blair unable to reveal faith

The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, has criticised the former Prime Minister Tony Blair, saying he was "sorry" that he felt unable to talk about his faith during his time in office.

In the last episode of the BBC One series 'The Blair Years', the former Prime Minister said that his faith was a crucial component for him in taking the job of Prime Minister and was "hugely important" during his time in office.

However, he also said on the programme that unlike in the USA he felt unable to openly say so as "you talk about it in our system and, frankly, people do think you're a nutter".

Reacting to the comments Bishop Nazir-Ali was quoted by the BBC as saying, "I am sorry that Tony Blair feels he could not talk about his faith in case people thought he was a nutter.

"A Christian vision underlies all that is important about Britain: its laws, institutions and values."

"If Blair had been able to relate this vision to his policies, we would have had more constructive social policy at home and principled policies abroad."

Tony Blair's former spokesman Alistair Campbell once famously told journalists, "We don't do God."

During the current programme, Campbell admitted to the BBC that Blair "does do God in quite a big way", but that the two of them feared a negative public reaction to it. Campbell added that Blair always asked his aides to find a church for him to attend each Sunday wherever he happened to be in the world.