In two articles recently the Archbishop of Canterbury has spoken out about the importance of clear moral values in society. The first interview was on the question of cohabitation and the second, an article written by the Archbishop himself, appeared in The Times newspaper on 10 April.

On the question of cohabitation, Dr Carey has warned that unmarried couples who live together "will bring down the institution of marriage". The Archbishop made his comments in an interview which was published in the Radio Times before Easter. He said: "We don't want to point the finger at people just so they feel guilty, but we need to remind them there are moral values worth espousing."

The Archbishop says that "shame" is a very important and neglected word. "They may cohabit, and in some cases it may be virtually the same as marriage. My fear is that eventually cohabitation will bring down the institution of marriage." The Archbishop went on to speak of the importance of the Christian tradition:"This country owes so much to Christian tradition, and we are in danger of losing that if we're not careful, if we continue with 'do it yourself', and not having a shared basis for a moral life."

He agrees that in society today there is no one agreed single source of authority but he maintains that this is a "fundamentally different proposition from saying that we have no shared values any more."

The Archbishop's article was published at the height of media interest on the questions of morality and trust in the British election campaign. His article is written in the light of a national ongoing debate in morality and values in the Schools Curriculum and Assessment Authority. The Archbishop believes that the report from this national forum on education should be significant for any incoming government because it shows what are already shared values within society. "I want to emphasise that the development of such a considerable consensus on shared values is a major step forward in empowering schools. We need these values to be transmitted confidently and positively. In a society disfigured by widespread moral confusion and false theories of privatised morality, that is a most significant prize."