Jacob Rees-Mogg said last week that as a Catholic he opposed abortion, even after rape or incest

For the first time, most British Catholics support a woman’s right to have an abortion, as Christians move closer to secular opinion on social issues.

The 2016 British Social Attitudes survey found that 61 per cent of Catholics in Britain agreed that “the law should allow an abortion if the woman decides . . . she does not wish to have a child”.

The Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said last week that as a Catholic he opposed abortion, even after rape or incest. These figures show that he is in a minority. Among the general population 70 per cent support the right to abortion.

Support among British Catholics has increased from 39 per cent when the question was last asked in the annual survey in