Britain’s Christian heritage is no longer understood in the “corridors of power” an influential Church of England bishop has said.

The former Bishop of Rochester, Rt Revd Michael Nazir-Ali (pictured) was commenting on Prime Minister David Cameron’s recent speech on the place of the Bible and Christianity in British life.

In an article for The Sunday Telegraph, the Bishop welcomed much of what David Cameron said, but he cautioned that religious literacy is an issue in the Civil Service, Parliament and local authorities.

He said: “What Mr Cameron said about Christian ideas being embedded in our constitutional arrangements is no longer understood in the corridors of power.

“A disconnected view of history and the fog of multiculturalism have all but erased such memory from official consciousness.

“A concerted programme is needed if this literacy is to be recovered. Church leaders can help with remedial action, but this has to do with the place of Christianity in schools, and the teaching of history.”

He added: “Education on citizenship cannot ignore the fact that our cherished values have biblical roots.” 

He said: “As Mr Cameron reminded us, the value of equality comes from the biblical teaching, confirmed by science, of the common origin of all humans. This has to do with the equality of persons, not necessarily the equal value of all behaviour or relationships.

He continued: “Equality of all before the law is a development from the Judaeo-Christian influence on the law, but so is respect for conscience.”

The Bishop commented: “I would hope that legislation initiated by this Government will, increasingly, respect the consciences of believers.

“Legislation in America provides for the ‘reasonable accommodation’ of religious belief at work.

“If such a doctrine had been in place in Britain, we would not have seen the absurd dismissals – and absurd judicial decisions that upheld them – of Christians and others because they could not do certain tasks on account of their faith.”

In March Bishop Nazir-Ali warned that aggressive secularism was undermining Britain’s Christian values and could lead to “totalitarianism”.