by Martyn Snow, The Times
Dismissing those concerns outright risks pushing these people further from the church they love
Nigel Farage recently suggested that any criticism from bishops in the House of Lords about Reform UK’s plans for immigration showed that we were “out of touch” with our flock. He thereby laid down a gauntlet: any objections we made would be evidence of the chasm between us and our congregations, which, research by the University of Exeter has shown, contain a lot of support for Reform.
Hard as it is for church leaders such as me to hear, there is a grain of truth in what he says.
Let me be clear: I do not believe the church should remain silent in the face of inhumane policies or populist fearmongering. We are called to bear witness to the dignity of all people, and especially to defend those whose voices are silenced or ignored. This includes migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, many of whom are at the mercy of systems that reduce them to statistics.
But there is unease, fear and anger rife across the country. And the Church of England exists for these people just as much as it exists for Christians who are pro-immigration.
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