He told The Telegraph: “I do think that there has been a rise of an assertiveness of religious groups across the spectrum. That is why those with softer religious views find it disturbing and say they don’t want anything to do with it.”

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His made the comments after David Cameron faced criticism for openly talking about his beliefs and declaring Britain to be a “Christian country”.
In a letter to The Telegraph, more than 50 celebrities, scientists and academics accused the Prime Minister of sowing “alienation and division” and fuelling “sectarian divides”.

Mr Grieve was one of two senior cabinet ministers who on Tuesday defended Mr Cameron’s comments and criticised the letter's signatories.
Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, joined Mr Grieve in his criticism on Tuesday and said those denying Britain is a Christian country are “absurd” and “ignoring both historical and constitutional reality".

He said: “The idea that his comments have alienated those of other faiths is questionable given the range of religious leaders from other denominations who have welcomed them.

“It is arguably our Christian heritage, with its innate tolerance and inclusivity, that has ensured the freedom of all voices – religious or non-religious – to be heard and to be valued.”

Mr Grieve said that “atheism hasn’t made much progress” in Britain and that “our state, its ethics and our society are underpinned by Christian values”.

He said that the “basic premise” of the people who signed the letter, who included the authors Philip Pullman and Sir Terry Pratchett and the TV presenter Nick Ross, is “wrong”.

Mr Grieve said: “As I go around and look at the way we make laws, and indeed many of the underlying ethics of society are Christian based and the result of 1500 years of Christian input into our national life. It is not going to disappear overnight. They [the atheists] are deluding themselves.”

The 2011 census showed that 59 per cent of people in England and Wales – or 33.2 million people – identified themselves with Christianity.
But that proportion plunged from 72 per cent a decade earlier and those reporting “no religion” almost doubled from just under 15 per cent to more than 25 per cent.

Mr Grieve said: “I do think that the rise of religious fundamentalism is a major deterrent to people. It is a big turn off away from religion generally, and it's very damaging in that context.

“It encourages people to say I'm not interested, [it encourages] an unwillingness to express commitment.

“The evidence in this country is overwhelming that most people in this country by a very substantial margin have religious belief in the supernatural or a deity.

“To that extent atheism doesn't appear to have made much progress in this country at all, which is probably why the people that wrote this letter are so exercised about it.”

The Church of England hit back on Tuesday, accusing the secular and humanist campaigners of a “shameful” and even “dishonest” attempt to “eradicate” recognition of faith in shaping British culture.

The Very Rev Dr John Hall, the Dean of Westminster, whose position places him at the juncture of church and state, said: “What is clear to me is that Christian values have formed our nation and are fundamental to who we are and how we are.

“There is a sense in which those things have disappeared into what we regard as our own values in a broader sense but they owe themselves to our Christian heritage and beliefs.

“To reconnect values to the beliefs that gave rise to them, I think is extremely important, and that is not in any sense offensive to people of other faiths and traditions and is about the particular character of our nation.”