The SNP candidate in the Glasgow North East by-election hit back yesterday at Labour and Tory MSPs for making his religious views an issue during the campaign.

Former BBC TV reporter David Kerr said his faith was a personal matter'' and religion had no part to play in the election.

Mr Kerr spoke out after Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker and the Scottish Tories' deputy leader Murdo Fraser both raised questions about his membership of the controversial Catholic group Opus Dei.

Mr Fraser said it raised questions about whether it was appropriate to have a candidate who was a member of a secretive'' and hardline'' organisation.

Mr Baker said it would be a cause for people to have questions'' about his views.

Mr Kerr, who has made no secret about his membership of the organisation, said: Modern Scotland and Scottish political parties encompass people of all faiths and none. My faith is a personal matter, and religion has no part to play in this or any other campaign.

The Labour candidate Willie Bain agrees with that, yet Labour's justice spokesperson has sought to make it an issue in the by-election - as indeed has the Tory deputy leader.

These Labour and Tory spokespeople have a lot of explaining to do about what they are actually saying.'' Mr Kerr contrasted the remarks with comments by Mr Bain, who also said religion should play no part in the election campaign.

Mr Bain said: I want to bring people together, not divide them up. My faith is important to me, but it does not matter what religion or religious organisation a candidate is in.

I pledge never to make religion an issue in this campaign and hope nobody else does either.'' A Tory spokesman said Mr Fraser was not questioning whether, as a member of Opus Dei, Mr Kerr had a right to be a candidate but that his views on certain issues should be known to the electorate.

Mr Kerr also had to defend himself for insulting Glasgow Caledonian University in a speech he made two years ago at St Andrews University during which he also impersonated John Knox.

Mr Kerr, a graduate of St Andrews, said Glasgow Caledonian University didn't have a reputation to tarnish''.

He claimed yesterday they were obviously light-hearted remarks made affectionately and received in jest''. He said the university was doing a fantastic job'' and accused Labour of pathetic name-calling''.

However, Mr Bain, a law lecturer, said he couldn't believe'' Mr Kerr's jibes.

He said: I want to stand up for people in this part of Glasgow, not talk people down or laugh at them.

Part of my job at the moment is helping people from ordinary backgrounds like mine, where there isn't a great tradition of university, to break through this type of snobbish attitude."

The University and College Union also condemned Mr Kerr's comments. Vince Mills, president of UCU at Glasgow Caledonian, said: Such elitism is not only quaint but positively dangerous.

Rather than denigrating the contribution of some universities he should be fighting for the resources they need to flourish.'' Meanwhile, Home Secretary Alan Johnson let slip that he believes the General Election is now eight months away - suggesting that he expects an April campaign ahead of polling day on May 6, 2010.