Ruth Gledhill's blog on the adoption row

The Church of England put pressure on the Prime Minister last night over the gay adoptions row with a letter giving warning that “rights of conscience cannot be made subject to legislation”.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York declared on the side of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster after Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor wrote to every member of the Cabinet stating that the Catholic Church could not accept a law forcing its adoption agencies to accept gay couples.

The intervention by Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu in a letter seen by The Times places unprecedented pressure on Tony Blair. If he accedes to the demands, he will face accusations from the gay rights lobby and many within his own Government of being a “Vatican puppet”. If he stands by the gay lobby, he risks alienating hundreds of thousands of Catholic Labour voters.

It is thought that Mr Blair, an Anglican whose wife is a Catholic and who has long been known to be sympathetic to the Church himself, favours a compromise. However, most other Cabinet ministers are taking a much harder line and believe that compromise is impossible. If the Church is allowed to opt out, they argue, it would undermine the fundemental position of law.

In their letter, Dr Williams and Dr Sentamu highlight the danger of the row escalating to the point where some might question the ability of people with a strong faith to be in government.

They say: “It would be deeply regrettable if in seeking, quite properly, better to defend the rights of a particular group not to be discriminated against, a climate were to be created in which, for example, some feel free to argue that members of the Government are not fit to hold public office on the grounds of their faith affiliation.”

They give warning that the argument over the Sexual Orientation Regulations has reached damaging proportions and that “much could be lost”. They say: “Many in the voluntary sector are dedicated to public service because of the dictates of their conscience. In legislating to protect and promote the rights of particular groups the Government is faced with the delicate but important challenge of not thereby creating the conditions within which others feel their rights to have been ignored or sacrificed, or in which the dictates of personal conscience are put at risk.

“The rights of conscience cannot be made subject to legislation, however well meaning.” They draw a comparison with doctors working for the NHS, who are entitled to opt out of performing abortions if it goes against their conscience.

They said: “It is vitally important that the interests of vulnerable children are not relegated to suit any political interest. And that conditions are not inadvertently created which make the claims of conscience an obstacle to, rather than the inspiration for, the invaluable public service rendered by parts of the voluntary sector.”

Their letter came as Mr Blair signalled his support for Catholic adoption agencies to opt out of gay rights laws despite accusations of blackmail by bishops threatening their closure.

Downing Street said Mr Blair had taken charge of the search for a compromise amid a stand-off between the Catholic Church and supporters of gay rights over a new law to curb discrimination. But supporters of the new regulations insisted there was no scope for a middle way without breaching the principles of equality law.

Mr Blair’s official spokesman said the Prime Minister would be seeking a “solution that meets the needs of both sides”.

It followed an intervention from Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, who wrote to all Cabinet ministers giving warning that 12 Catholic adoption and fostering agencies faced closure unless they were exempted from the regulations.

This provoked a fierce backlash as a series of MPs, gay rights bodies and secular groups accused him of holding the Government to ransom.

Angela Eagle, a Labour MP and a member of the party’s National Executive Committee, said: “We can’t have a situation where the cardinal is saying you either do what I demand or I will close services. That is a kind of blackmail.”

Ruth Kelly, the minister in charge of equality policy and herself a member of Opus Dei, the devout Catholic movement, wrote a letter to all Labour MPs saying she was looking at views on all sides.

The Times was also told that the Department for Education and Skills, which is responsible for adoption, did not agree that children’s interest would be damaged, on grounds that Catholic agencies made only 4 per cent of placements while gay couples tended to accept harder-to-place children.

Explore Law

• Columnists

• Law Panel

• Law Reports

• Student Law

Times Recommends

• BGC 'set aside £40m to lure Tullett brokers'
• Legal aid review to ensure value
• Fears as 21 magistrates' courts face closure