from Religion Media Centre
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, has said the UK should resist Reform’s “kneejerk” plan for the mass deportation of 600,000 migrants, by striking deals with the Taliban and Iran, saying it will not “solve the problem”.
Speaking to Sky News this weekend, he said he has every sympathy with people who are concerned about asylum seekers coming to the country illegally, but Reform’s proposals are not a long term solution.
In reply, Reform’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, said he was a Christian who “enjoys” the church – but that the “role of the archbishop is not actually to interfere with international migration policies”.
Reform’s policies were outlined by Nigel Farage last week and were criticised again by the Bishop of Oxford Steven Croft, on the BBC Radio 4 Sunday programme. He said Farage’s comments used language “seeking to increase people’s fears of the stranger” for political purposes and “the way to improve confidence in our democracy is to develop appropriate, sophisticated policies, not broad brush slogans, which can actually tackle the issue overtime”.
Tim Montgomerie from Reform, said he would have liked to hear the Bishop talk about the pressure on community resources from the level of immigration and the channel crossings. He said when people feel the system is being abused and there is no control of the borders: “then we perhaps become less open because we want the system to work”.
Sunday programme here (36 minutes in).
Gavin Ashenden is interviewed by GB News on the Archbishop of York’s pro illegal immigration stance.
Sorry Archbishop, but these are the people you should be angry with – not Nigel Farage by Jonathan Saxby, Daily Express
Read also: The Bishop of Oxford’s Sanctimonious Letter to Nigel Farage Shows How Out of Touch the C of E is by Julian Mann, The Daily Sceptic