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Blair to address Christians

-20/03/05

Tony Blair is to address Christians this week as Labour tries to refocus the debate over religion and politics away from inflammatory rows over abortion.

The Prime Minister is expected to highlight issues ranging from his party’s support for the Make Poverty History campaign to new opportunities for religious activists to get involved in public services, in an address and webcast.

All three party leaders have been offered the platform to address Christians, by the Faithworks campaign.

Blair’s speech, however, follows a week dominated by calls from Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, for Catholics to vote according to candidates’ views on abortion, and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s call for a public debate about abortion – following Michael Howard’s statement about restricting late abortions.

Blair is expected to refocus the argument around more traditional issues of importance to churchgoers, such as how the government can tap into Christian grassroots activism. However, he is likely also to be grilled about his own faith during a question-and-answer session following the lecture.

In his Faithworks lecture, Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy