Faith Doesn't Play in British Politics

Soon-to-be-Catholic Tony Blair has confessed that faith was "hugely important"  in decisions he made as Britain's prime minister, and he wished he could, like President Bush, have been open about it at the time. But Britons are suspicious of religion, Blair said in a TV interview reported in the Telegraph. "You talk about it in our system and, frankly, people do think you're a nutter."  

Blair, whose communications director famously said, "We don't do God,"  admitted that religion influenced the decision to send British troops to Iraq. His comments, which will be broadcast next Sunday, were welcomed by religious leaders; critics said religious zeal blinded him to the consequences of his decision to support the war in Iraq. Blair, now a Mideast peace envoy,  is expected to finalize his conversion to Catholicism very soon. (More Tony Blair stories.)