EU immigration: Farage and Welby clash over “legitimising racism”
by Archbishop Cranmer:
During his appearance before the Home Affairs Select Committee, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby insisted he was not supporting either side in the EU Referendum campaign. Well, for those who heave ears…
It wasn’t so much a Farage-Welby ‘clash’, not least because the Ukip leader said live on TV: “I’m not going to stand and attack the Archbishop of Canterbury, but he would have done better to read what I actually said…” The clashing was all the Archbishop’s: Nigel Farage’s response was a reasonable exhortation for the Archbishop to study the primary source. But the headlines following the first appearance of an archbishop of Canterbury before a parliamentary select committee were dominated by Justin Welby ‘s criticism. Nigel Farage was accused of “legitimising racism” for suggesting that by remaining in the EU we make the risk of assaults like those in Cologne on New Year’s Eve more likely in the future. The Archbishop accused the Ukip leader of “accentuating fear for political gain”.
The headlines could (and perhaps should) have been concerned with the use and abuse of fear. After all, if “accentuating fear for political gain” is “absolutely inexcusable” (the Archbishop’s words), why should one excuse the Cameron-Osborne axis of ‘Project Fear’ which is manifestly trying to scare the bejesus out of everyone in order to bolster the Remain campaign? As Lord Carey observed, the pervasive Remain spin is that Brexit “will bring about the coming of the four horsemen of the apocalypse”. Is the ‘Stronger In’ campaign of terror not also absolutely inexcusable?
Of course, the Archbishop of Canterbury wouldn’t dream of attacking the leader of a main political party – let alone the Prime Minister – during an election campaign, lest he may influence public opinion and affect the outcome of the election. But Nigel Farage is fair game – especially when he’s due to debate the Prime Minister live on TV that night – and influencing the EU Referendum toward a Remain outcome is a moral, righteous and enlightened thing to do, even if it means embroidering a bit of fear about the Ukip leader. But if fear is the Archbishop’s overriding pastoral concern, it might be considered that David Cameron and George Osborne have fanned a few more flames and stoked a few more fires than Nigel Farage has done during in this campaign. It was the purposeful design from the outset, but not a word from the church about that.
But let us consider what Nigel Farage actually said, which is easy, because it was written in the Sunday Telegraph:
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