Starmer’s treatment of Jesus House is a “concerted attack” on freedom of religion

This comes just days after the senior pastor and his church, Jesus House in north-west London, were subjected to a ​“torrent of hate-filled, abusive and bullysome” messages after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said his visit to the church’s pop-up vaccination centre on Good Friday was a mistake and apologised, tweeting that he was unaware of the church’s views on LGBT+ rights.

We spoke to Pastor Agu to find out more and explore what the UK church can do when it comes under fire for holding to orthodox biblical views.

Jesus House has hosted several public figures over the last few weeks. Who has been to see you and why?

Along with other faith groups, Jesus House has been supporting the campaign to tackle concerns and dispel myths around the coronavirus vaccine within black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, which have been impacted more severely by the coronavirus than other groups.

We were very concerned at the low uptake of the vaccine within BAME communities, and so working with the NHS and our primary care network, a pop-up vaccination centre was set up to encourage members of our community, and others who would have found it difficult to access the vaccines through the existing channels, to come and have the vaccine at the temporary clinic at Jesus House.

The Prince of Wales, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Nadhim Zahawi MP, who is the minister for COVID-19 vaccine deployment, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Brent Central MP Dawn Butler visited the church to see the vaccination centre in operation and show support for the church’s efforts in helping to increase the uptake of the vaccine among BAME communities.

How did the visit with Sir Keir and Butler on Good Friday come about?

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