By Will Hutton
Vintage. 370 pages. £7.99
ISBN 0 09 936681 9
Many Christians look to the coming British general election with interest and expectations. Can the likely result fulfil our hopes?
A Labour government under Tony Blair offers at least a whispered hope of revived Christian values in British government. Into 10 Downing Street will arrive a churchgoer, a professing (though not evangelical) believer whose political agenda is led by family and community values with a social outlook based on ethical and Christian impulses. At his side at Number 11 will be Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, a son of the manse who speaks enthusiastically of the Christian influence on his life. Together they claim to lead a new Party, reshaped according to values that are both post-socialist and post-Thatcherite.
