Attempts by the Labour Party in Scotland to attract religious voters backfired spectacularly this week when the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, condemned the party for an “unrelenting attack on family values” during its time in government.

In an stinging rebuke that could significantly damage Labour’s prospects in Scotland at the forthcoming general election, Cardinal O’Brien said he could not think of a “tangible example” of the party embracing the views of the Catholic Church in the past decade.

On the contrary, he maintained that Labour and Prime Minister Gordon Brown had consistently undermined religious freedom by ignoring objections to new laws permitting experimentation on embryos, civil partnerships and same-sex adoption.

He spoke out in response to a speech by Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy to centre-left think tank Progress in which he said Labour was the natural party for religious voters to support.

Last year, equality legislation passed by the Labour Government forced Catholic adoption agencies in the UK to close, and they are currently pushing for legislation which threatens to force religious institutions to hire staff who will undermine their ethos, although it appears Labour has accepted an amendment accept the employment rights of religious organisations.

Mr Murphy, a Catholic, quoted the Bible and said Christian values had given the Labour movement much of its “intellectual legitimacy”. Ironically, he said: “When the Chief Rabbi, or the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Cardinal speak, men and women of all faiths and none listen.”

Responding to the speech Cardinal O’Brien said the speech’s recognition of the importance of faith in society was welcome.

However, he added, “a tangible example by the government over the last decade that it acknowledged or endorsed religious values would also have been welcomed”.

“Instead we have witnessed this government undertake a systematic and unrelenting attack on family values,” he said.

He added he was personally disappointed Mr Brown had ignored his concerns about this when he put them to him in 2008. Outlining his grievances, the leader of Scotland’s 750,000 Catholics said: “When introducing legislation to permit experimentation on and destruction of human embryos, the objections of the Church and other faiths were ignored.

“When introducing legislation to permit civil partnerships and same-sex adoption, the objections of the Church and other faiths were ignored. In refusing to tackle the soaring toll of abortions, the views of the Church and other faiths were ignored. Most recently, in advancing legislation which would completely and permanently undermine religious freedom, this government has taken no note whatsoever of the concerns of people of faith.”

Mr Murphy’s speech has been seen as a recognition that Labour has allowed some of its core support among religious groups, especially Catholics and Muslims, to slip. In Scotland, this has allowed the SNP to eat into Labour’s traditional Catholic support.

Across the UK, the Conservatives have also attempted to attract the faith vote by portraying themselves as the party of family values, with a tax break for married couples.

You can watch a repot on the Cardinal’s reaction here.