Britain’s freedoms are being eroded as Afghanistan’s are being built up, says the Bishop of Lichfield.

In a sermon for Remembrance Sunday in Stoke Minster, the Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill said British troops were being sent to Afghanistan to build a free and democratic society while Britain’s own freedoms and values were in danger of being dismantled.

“We are throwing our soldiers at a nation where the structures are endemically corrupt. We are trying to train up police in a society which is divided and where terrorism reigns. That is a difficult task for our troops and we salute them.

“But the point which we can consider is this: isn’t it true that in our own society we are chipping away at the values which make our freedoms possible? You can’t make a democracy in Afghanistan without shared public values and citizens who are not corrupt and violent. But in our own country corruption and violence are not entirely absent.”

He went on to criticise the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights which last week ruled that the public display of crucifixes in Italian schools discriminated against non-Christians.

“Europe would not be Europe without its Christian history and foundations,” he said. “The cross or the crucifix reminds us of the greatest act of sacrificial love in the history of the world. It can’t be done away with as if it were a private symbol.”

He went on to say that Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was the foundation of ethics for British society.

“We owe it to our soldiers not to give up on the attempt to build a society worthy of their sacrifice. We owe it to Jesus Christ not to nibble away at his precepts for our world: Love your enemies, overcome evil with good, give respect to all, work for justice, pray for peace, make provision for the children,” he said.

“Let the urgency of the world situation enable us to hear Christ’s calling: ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.’”