|TOP|The Bishop of Rochester, the Right Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, claims that the Church is suffering a "full-frontal assault" on its place in British society. Furthermore, bishops are failing to act, allowing key Christian activities in institutions such as prisons and hospitals to be reduced to a "multifaith mishmash".

Bishops have found it impossible to act in unity or even discuss "ways of upholding the uniqueness of Christ in the public square," despite a growing threat to Britain's traditional identity as a Christian country.

"Surely this is where bishops and the Church as a whole should act together?" he asked. "So far, there has been little interest, and our ecclesiastical bureaucracies remain preoccupied with pre-eminently churchy matters."

To acknowledge Britain's Christian roots is not to deny others the opportunity to contribute, he says.

|AD|"Alas, such a vision of our Christian roots is very far from the ideas of policy-makers and managers in our public institutions. They have been sold the doctrine of the multifaith society, lock, stock and barrel."

Writing in The Church of England Newspaper, Dr Nazir-Ali says that the Church of England's role and that of other churches in the nation is built on the assumption that this is a Christian country that owes its constitution, institutions, legal arrangements and values to the Christian faith.

But Dr Nazir-Ali argues that there is a "secularising agenda" afoot in which people of no faith argue for Britain being a multifaith society to level down or "neutralise" all faiths.

"To acknowledge the Christian roots of British society is not to deny others the opportunity of making their own contribution. In fact, a so-called neutral standpoint may be equally unwelcoming to all," the Pakistan-born bishop says.

Ugandan-born Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, is another Church of England bishop to make a recent stand for traditional British values.

Dr Nazir-Ali, a conservative evangelical, says that the Church of England has always ensured that other denominations and religions are "included". But he says that this is no longer good enough and the Church must think again.