'Militant secularisation is taking hold of Britain - Baroness Warsi

A Cabinet minister has hit out at the way in which faith is being attacked by a rising tide of “militant secularisation”.

Baroness Warsi, a Muslim, is leading a delegation of government ministers on a two-day visit to the Vatican.

In an article for The Daily Telegraph, she said that one of the most worrying aspects of this militant secularisation was that “in its instincts it is deeply intolerant”.

She said Europe needed to be “more confident and more comfortable in its Christianity” as she criticised the way in which Christianity had virtually been written out of the European Constitution.

Faith, she said, had been “neglected, undermined – and yes, even attacked – by governments" in recent years.

“You cannot and should not extract these Christian foundations from the evolution of our nations any more than you can or should erase the spires from our landscapes,” she said.

“My fear today is that a militant secularisation is taking hold of our societies. We see it in any number of things: when signs of religion cannot be displayed or worn in government buildings; when states won’t fund faith schools; and where religion is sidelined, marginalised and downgraded in the public sphere.

“It seems astonishing to me that those who wrote the European Constitution made no mention of God or Christianity.”

Baroness Warsi will repeat her call in a speech staff and students of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy later today.

It comes days after the High Court ruled that it was unlawful for a town council in Devon to say prayers during its meetings.

In a speech last year, Prime Minister David Cameron said that Britain was a Christian country and "should not be afraid to say so".

"The Bible has helped to give Britain a set of values and morals which make Britain what it is today, values and morals we should actively stand up and defend," he said.