Mr. Stephen Brown at the Justice and Human Rights Committee

First and foremost, I never said that secularism or the separation of religion and state wasn't integral to our society.

I want to make it clear that, in any liberal democracy, it is fundamental that there be a separation between religion and the state, to ensure that all people, whatever their creed, are able to express differences of opinion. That is just basic. That is why we need open secularism, to ensure that secularism doesn't essentially become an anti-religious tool.