National newspaper columnist Tim Montgomerie has criticised Britain’s increasingly secular society. Writing in The Times he said, ‘I want less vacuous talk of fairness, tolerance and generosity from our politicians. Let’s start getting specific about what we mean by ‘British values’. Freedom of religion should be a cornerstone of western belief and it must stand as a contrast to the many Islamic states where apostasy is punishable by death. Also do we really want to be a society that seems indifferent to 200,000 abortions every year but can’t find room for faith schools? Or a popular culture that celebrates getting blind drunk on the weekend but wants to compel a church charity to employ non-believers?’ Montgomerie pointed to John Newton: ‘Few people in history can have had a greater appreciation of the power of God’s forgiveness than John Newton, who wrote ‘Amazing Grace’ and encouraged Wilberforce to end the slave trade, not to leave politics after becoming a Christian. See also THE MILL GATHERING STATEMENT at http://wpc.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/The-Mill-Statement-Apr-2015.pdf