The Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Revd Jonathan Gledhill, has welcomed British Airways' decision to review its uniform policy following public outrage over the banning of the wearing of a crucifix by the airline's staff. He said: "It can be very difficult for an individual or company to back down after coming under such a barrage of public and media criticism; so British Airways must be congratulated for their courage in making the announcement. "I hope the review is completed swiftly and that Nadia Eweida is able to return to work shortly. "It's funny that wearing the cross has suddenly become an issue. Eighteen months ago it was everyone's fashion item and the Church was worried that people were wearing it without realising what it means. "The cross means God's mercy and forgiveness for a world that's gone wrong. If you wear it, you are saying that you believe in love more than hate, in non-violence rather than violence and a God who cares for us enough to die for us. "Because this is a Christian country it is a free country and Muslims are free to wear the veil. Because this is a Christian country it is a free country and we are free to tell Muslims that we'd prefer them not to hide their faces. "If we did away with being a Christian country many of our ancient freedoms would disappear. England used to be lots of warring kingdoms like Bosnia or Afghanistan. It was the teaching of the cross by people like St Chad that persuaded the chieftains here to stop fighting each other and to obey Christ. That is how we became a nation. "We should not dismantle all that without a long and public debate. No one has the right to stop people wearing a cross - unless they want to destroy the spiritual foundation of our nation." | 
