The Church of England’s most senior bishop has launched a blistering attack on Nigel Farage‘s small boats policy.
Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell branded the Reform UK leader’s proposals for mass deportations as being ‘isolationist, short-term’ and ‘kneejerk’.
Mr Farage this week set out plans to deport 600,000 migrants through ‘Operation Restoring Justice’ which he hopes to implement should his party win the next election.
But the archbishop, who is the most senior figure in the CofE in the absence of an Archbishop of Canterbury, said Mr Farage was not offering a solution to the ‘big issues’ which are driving people to risk the English Channel crossing.
Mr Cottrell said any plans to lock up and deport migrants would not solve the growing crisis which has seen more than 50,000 small boat arrivals since Sir Keir Starmer‘s Labour came to power last July.
‘You’ve just put it somewhere else and you’ve done nothing to address the issue of what brings people to this country,’ he continued.
‘And so if you think that’s the answer, you will discover in due course that all you have done is made the problem worse.’
Mr Cottrell added that he has ‘every sympathy with those who find this difficult’ but that Britons ‘should actively resist the kind of isolationist, short-term kneejerk ‘send them home”‘ messaging.
Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell (pictured) has branded Nigel Farage’s plans for mass deportations as being ‘isolationist, short-term’ and ‘kneejerk’
Mr Farage (pictured) has set out to deport 600,000 asylum seekers, a plan labelled ‘Operation Restoring Justice’, if his party wins the next election
Mr Cottrell said the Reform leader was not offering a solution to the ‘big issues’ which are driving people to risk the English Channel crossing (File Image)
Asked whether that was his message to Mr Farage, the archbishop said: ‘Well, it is. I mean, Mr Farage is saying the things he’s saying, but he is not offering any long-term solution to the big issues which are convulsing our world, which lead to this.’
It comes just one day after the senior church official labelled the Reform leader’s deportation plans as being ‘beneath us as a nation’ and ‘not the Christian way’.
Speaking to The Mirror, Mr Cottrell urged Britons to show asylum seekers the Christian traits of ‘compassion and understanding’ instead of calling for them to be sent home.
He said: ‘It is the Christian way to meet those asking for help with compassion and understanding and it has long been the British way to give shelter where we can to those escaping violence and conflict abroad. It should remain that way.’
He also emphasised the need for a ‘fair and functional’ system including for those living near hotels and other accommodation housing migrants.
Mr Farage has previously said Christianity ‘should be recognised by Government at all levels’.
He also described ‘Judeo-Christian values’ as at the root of ‘everything’ in the UK and called for a ‘muscular defence’ of them.
The senior church official yesterday even labelled the Reform leader’s deportation plans as being ‘not the Christian way’ and ‘beneath us as a nation’
Mr Farage (pictured) has previously said Christianity ‘should be recognised by Government at all levels’
But with the Archbishop scolding his plans, it suggests he faces butting heads with the country’s most senior Christian in implementing them.
The Reform leader was asked this week if it would be hypocritical for him to ignore church bosses given his previous vigorous defence of Christianity in Britain.
He said: ‘Whoever the Christian leaders are at any given point in time, I think over the last decades quite a few of them have been rather out of touch, perhaps with their own flock.
‘Given the types of people appointed to be the Archbishop of Canterbury, that’s probably the biggest understatement of the day.’
The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, resigned in November last year following a damning review of his role into the handling of a child sex abuse scandal.
The bishop’s calls for compassion come amid heightened tension which has seen Britain gripped by protests for weeks.
Such demonstrations initially broke out at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, after one of the asylum seekers living there was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month.
Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu has denied the offence and has been on trial this week.
The alleged assault led to widespread calls for the Bell Hotel to be shut down as a network of protests grew wider outside asylum hotels across Britain, but the Home Office yesterday won an appeal against its closure.
Lawyers for Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had argued that shutting the hotel would set a ‘dangerous precedent’ which would have encouraged similar litigation by other councils.
The bishop’s comments come amid heightened tension which has seen Britain gripped by protests (as seen above) for weeks
Demonstrations initially broke out at the Bell Hotel (pictured) in Epping, Essex, after one of the asylum seekers living there was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month – claims which have been denied during the man’s trial
Lawyers for Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (pictured) had argued that shutting the hotel would set a ‘dangerous precedent’ that would have encouraged similar litigation by other councils
The decision enraged Essex locals who have protested outside the hotel for weeks.
Last night they took to the streets as well as those further afield in of Chichester, Cheshunt and Bournemouth taking part in anti-immigration demos.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the move showed Prime Minister Keir Starmer ‘puts the rights of illegal immigrants above the rights of British people who just want to feel safe in their towns and communities.’
Meanwhile, Mr Farage posted on X: ‘Illegal migrants have more rights than the people of Essex. Reform UK will put an end to this.’
