Candidates Photo: Jay Butcher Photography
Labour leadership hopefuls share faith credentials at hustings
Christian Socialist Movement challenges candidates
‘Values’ was the word on everyone’s lips as the five candidates for the Labour Party leadership pitched for religious support and spoke about the role of faith in their own lives. They answered questions, in a packed room of about 300 people, at a hustings run by the Christian Socialist Movement (CSM) in London last week. Andy Burnham, the only religious adherent among the five, spoke of his Roman Catholic faith, repeatedly insisting that ‘the basic tenets of the Labour Party and socialism are one and the same with those of Christianity’. David Miliband said we could learn from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, while his brother Ed explained he had faith that ‘if you saw an injustice then you had to do something about it’. Ed Balls encouraged Labour to ‘talk more about values’. Diane Abbott called for a focus on ‘values of faith, community and family’ that she learned from her Christian grandmother.
