Ruth Kelly laments new secularism at Westminster
By Mark Greaves
3 October 2008

Ruth Kelly offered her resignation as the embryology Bill was making its way through Parliament (Photo: PA)

Ruth Kelly, who announced her resignation from the Cabinet last week, has hit out at the secular atmosphere of English politics, claiming that it is difficult to be a Christian in Westminster.

The former Transport Secretary said there was a gulf between the fashionable secularism of Parliament and the ordinary religious beliefs of wider society.

Her comments came just days after news of her resignation was leaked by an unknown source during the Labour Party conference.

She said: "It is difficult to be a Christian in politics these days. The public debate has become more secular and believers are portrayed as a bit odd.

"That doesn't reflect the reality in communities, where churchgoing and belief is considered normal."

Miss Kelly has insisted emphatically that she resigned to spend more time with her family, but some speculate that her departure was provoked by clashes with colleagues over the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Bill.

She told the London Evening Standard newspaper that she had resigned in May - at the height of the furore around the Bill - but that Gordon Brown had asked her to wait until the next Cabinet reshuffle.

She said last week about the embryology legislation: "I think it is a conscience issue and there should have been a free vote."

Miss Kelly was one of three Cabinet Ministers - along with Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, and Paul Murphy, the Welsh Secretary - who came under intense pressure to vote against their conscience by supporting the Government-backed Bill.

Mr Brown only granted a free vote on all aspects of the Bill after weeks of lobbying from MPs and Church leaders - and after he was humiliated by David Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions. Had he not relented all three Cabinet Ministers would have been forced to resign if they had opposed the legislation.

Miss Kelly voted against the Bill repeatedly and backed several amendments - all rejected by MPs - to lower the abortion limit to 12, 16, 20 and 22 weeks.

She was also the only Cabinet Minister who was allowed to stay away from the Third Reading of the Bill, scheduled for this autumn's session in Parliament. Both Mr Murphy and Mr Browne are expected to vote in favour of the legislation at this late stage but Miss Kelly managed to persuade the Prime Minister to let her attend meetings with EU officials in Brussels.

Conservative MP Geraldine Smith, a fierce opponent of the HFE Bill, said it "could well have played a part in her decision" to leave the Cabinet.

She said: "It's speculation but Ruth's got a strong faith. It would have been a very difficult time for her in Parliament.

"She never compromised her principles even when she was a junior Minister and it could have harmed her career.

"But we have to take what she says at face value - that she wants to spend more time with her family."

Miss Kelly's opposition to the Bill provoked hostility among some sections of the Labour Party.

In a newspaper article Mary Honeyball, a Labour MEP, questioned whether Catholics should be allowed on the Government front bench "in the light of their predilection to favour the pope's word above the government's."

Miss Kelly's religious beliefs and her membership of Opus Dei have been a focus of controversy throughout her four years in the Cabinet.

In 2006 she was forced to fend off accusations that her faith made her "unsuitable" to promote equal rights as the Communities Secretary.

Lorely Burt, equality spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrats, said Miss Kelly should stand down after it was reported that she had blocked proposals to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

She said: "The Government must not water down these proposals. We had always feared that Ruth Kelly's personal beliefs would make her unsuitable to be a champion of gay rights. Unfortunately these fears have become reality and she should now stand down."

A spokesman for Miss Kelly immediately dismissed the claim as "absurd" and said the report was inaccurate. The Sexual Orientation Regulations (SORs) which Miss Kelly had allegedly delayed were approved by Parliament in early 2007.

Before she was appointed Transport Secretary Miss Kelly had served as Communities Secretary and Education Secretary under Tony Blair. She was the youngest woman ever to sit in the Cabinet when she entered it at the age of 36.

She was elected MP for Bolton West in 1997 but had previously worked as a writer for the Guardian and as an economist for the Bank of England.

Commenting on her departure she said the decision had been taken "absolutely, completely for personal reasons". "I owe it to my family to start putting it first," she explained.

"Being in frontline politics and bringing up four children and being a constituency MP, it has not been easy all the time. I do think it is time just to take a step back and repay [my family for] the support that they have given me over the years."

Mr Brown praised her as a "very talented individual" and a "good friend". He said that as a father he understood her decision to put her family first.