Ian Blair, Baron Blair of Boughton, former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, delivered the third annual Theos lecture on 16th November 2010.

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Ian Blair, Baron Blair of Boughton, former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, gave the 2010 Theos Annual Lecture at One Birdcage Walk, Westminster.

Lord Blair reflected on the nature of his own religious faith, and acknowledged that religion could be a source of intolerance and violence in the world but said that it was principally a force for good – and should be at the basis of a decent society.

“All religions have, as their core belief, the need for love, for respect for others, for tolerance,” Lord Blair said.

A practising Anglican, he noted that “The greatest achievements and ambitions of human social history, such as the abolition of slavery and the provision of universal education or free health care for all, have had their origins in religious impulse.” However, he admitted that “This is not the image of religion in this past century or this past decade.”

“The agonies of the Palestinian–Israeli relationship, the sectarianism of ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, and the arrival of suicide bombers in the West are obscuring the basic decency that comes from the commandments to peace contained in all religions,” he said.

The lecture was chaired by writer and broadcaster John Humphrys, presenter on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and BBC 2’s Mastermind.