From today’s Prayer Breakfast:

’I recall giving an address to the country at a time of crisis. I wanted to end my words with “God bless the British people”,’ he said.
’This caused complete consternation. Emergency meetings were convened. The system was aghast.
’Finally, as I sat trying to defend my words, a senior civil servant said, with utter disdain: “Really, Prime Minister, this is not America you know.”
Free from the shackles of power today, he threw off those inhibitions and said: ‘I believe restoring religious faith to its rightful place, as the guide to our world and its future, is itself of the essence.
’The 21st century will be poorer in spirit, meaner in ambition, less disciplined in conscience, if it is not under the guardianship of faith in God.’
It is a far cry from the days when Mr Blair was banned from ending his television address to the nation in the run-up to the Iraq war with the words: ‘God bless the British people.’