Faith in the Public Square

As a Christian, it goes without saying that I hope that the Faith which I follow has a positive influence in all aspects of people's lives within the UK. That said I would be horrified if that was done by any kind of force and I do not take kindly to the idea that all Christians should be attracted to one political party.
So it is that whilst I can see where Archbishop Cranmer is coming from and that he is sincere, I believe him to be sincerely wrong on this issue. (Hat tip to Iain Dale and Tom Harris)
Thing is, there are actually a No of Labour and Liberal Democrat members who are pro-life, I happen to be one of them (pro-life that is, not Lib Dem ;-) ). We are perhaps not widespread, but we exist, just as there are significant numbers of Conservative activists who are pro-choice. Thats why there are free votes in the House of Commons on such issues and why political parties try and make allowances sometimes for issues of conscience.
Christian doctrine covers many facets of political life. Some issues will attract Christians to the Labour Party because they see echoes of what they believe on a particular subject which chimes with their faith, others will find themselves attracted to the other main parties for similar reasons. The moment some people start making "moral" proclamations to fellow Christians over which political party they ought to support, there is the risk alienating and dividing christian groups and turning some people away from the Christian faith when they have started to show an interest.
I would happily encourage any fellow Christian to get more involved in politics and public life, to help try and make a difference, to help win those small battles. I would never presume however, to ask or demand a fellow Christian to join the Labour Party because "it's the Christian thing to do!" Rather, I would encourage others to join Labour because I believe it's policies in general help improve our society, even if we get it badly wrong sometimes.