UK must defend Christian values against terror: David Cameron

British Prime Minister David Cameron said responsibility, hard work and compassion were important to people of every faith

Britain must stand together and defend its Christian values in the face of threats from terrorism as witnessed in Brussels, Prime Minister David Cameron  said in his Easter message on Sunday.

Cameron said responsibility, hard work and compassion were important to people of every faith.

The ideology behind attacks such as Brussels could be defeated by "standing up proudly" for those values, Cameron, who is on holiday in Lanzarote in Canary Islands, said.

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The prime minister has faced criticism in the past from secularists and some other public figures for describing Britain as a Christian country.

He has previously described himself as a "committed" but only "vaguely practising" Christian, who is "full of doubts" on big theological questions.

The prime minister said Britain should be proud of being a "Christian country with Christian values".

"But they are also values that speak to everyone in Britain — to people of every faith and none," he said, adding that "we must all stand together and defend them".

"When terrorists try to destroy our way of life as they have tried to do again so despicably in Brussels this week, we must stand together and show that we will never be cowed by terror," he was quoted as saying by the BBC.

"We must show that in this struggle of our generation we will defeat the pernicious ideology that is the root cause of this terrorism by standing up proudly for our values and our way of life," he added.

Cameron also praised the work done by faith and voluntary organisations — helping the homeless, caring for the sick and bereaved and risking their lives to help people in war-torn regions across the world.

At least 28 people were killed in a series of terror attacks on the Brussels airport and the metro system on March 22.