You don’t have to be Christian to back Archbishop’s dream of non-profit Wonga

Well done to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, for leading a rescue bid for collapsed payday loans firm Wonga.

The Tories have called him hypocritical for having investments in Amazon, but they are the hypocrites because they set up this “austerityfocused” economic policy which has driven down con- sumer-spending and driven companies to survive by having low wages and zerohours contracts. Now Brexit is helping to carve out the high street as well.

Of course, the Tories know they can play on the sensibilities of non-religious folk who think that Christians are basically Holy Willies anyway (so the archbishop can be easily dismissed). After all Robbie Burns’ famous poem does focus correctly on certain Christian archetypes who are very hard-hearted and “black and white” about things, but equally we have famous evangelicals such as William Wilberforce, the Earl of Shaftesbury and William Booth, whose tireless efforts to improve the lives of the poor gave Victorian Britain a fig-leaf of decency.

When people don’t focus on heritage (or become cynical about it) they become like the French revolutionaries who thought that all one needs is change and more change. By contrast, Edmund Burke, recognising the horrors brought on by revolutionary fervour, developed his philosophy of preserving traditions (maintaining our sense of heritage) which later led to the Tory party being called the Conservative Party.

Of course, this is a far cry from the neo-liberal radical Conservatives of today who take the view (since Margaret Thatcher’s time) that one doesn’t need social morality, but instead can push on with profiteering and low tax regimes. Whether one is a Christian or not, one can applaud the Archbishop for reminding us that progressive role models once transformed this society for the better. With that reminder, we can become more “heritage aware”.

ANDREW VASS Corbiehill Place, Edinburgh