Cameron hits back at the leftie bishops: I have my morals too
As Sam takes the fight to Ukip-land . . .
DAVID Cameron took on Church of England bishops yesterday after they questioned the morality of his austerity and welfare policies.
In an Easter message to Christians, the Prime Minister insisted the Coalition had spent five years ‘trying to lift people up’ by making work pay and encouraging responsibility.
‘Just because some people have disagreed with our policies, does not mean those policies are missing in moral content,’ he insisted. His intervention came as another senior Tory, chief whip Michael Gove, claimed Christians in Britain were being dismissed with a combination of condescension and suspicion. Six weeks ago, the Church provoked a row with ministers by publishing an unprecedented guide to how the country’s 30million Christians should ‘approach the General Election’.
Bishops insisted it was not targeted at any particular party, and criticised successive governments while calling for a ‘fresh moral vision’.
But much of the 50-page document was widely interpreted as indirect criticism of the Coalition’s welfare policies, which include a £26,000-ayear cap on household benefits, a new universal credit designed to ensure people are always better off in work and tough sanctions to prevent people languishing on jobless benefits.
The bishops complained that welfare claimants were ‘described in terms that imply they are undeserving, dependent and ought to be self-sufficient’. They insisted it was ‘game-playing … to claim that anyone who cares about the impact of austerity on the most vulnerable members of society is… careless about the extent of national indebtedness’.
Despite evidence the best-off are paying more in tax than ever before, the bishops also complained that ‘ the greatest burdens of austerity have not been borne by those with the broadest shoulders’.
Official Treasury figures suggest that the richest 10 per cent of households are contributing most to deficit reduction.
Speaking to Premier Christianity magazine, Mr Cameron said the ‘values of the Christian faith are the values on which our nation was built’.
‘I’m an unapologetic supporter of the role of faith in this country. And for me, the key point is this: the values of Easter and the Christian religion – compassion, forgiveness, kindness, hard work and responsibility – are values that we can all celebrate and share,’ he added. Mr Cameron conceded he was not a model Christian and was ‘a bit hazy on the finer points of our faith’. ‘But even so, in the toughest of times, my faith has helped me move on and drive forward. It also gives me a gentle reminder every once in a while about what really matters and how to be a better person, father and citizen,’ he added.
The Prime Minister said he had attempted to ‘ banish the notion that being in government means you can somehow wave a magic wand and solve all the world’s problems’, and instead it was about ‘ the right judgement… based on clear values and beliefs’.
He said the Government had inherited ‘exceptional pressure on the national finances’ from Labour, adding: ‘I am proud that despite the pressure on public spending, we made clear choices to help the poorest paid and most vulnerable in society.
‘We have increased NHS spending, despite the overriding need to deal with the deficit. We also raised the threshold of income tax to lift the poorest paid out of income tax altogether.
‘More fundamentally, the core of our recovery programme – dealing with the deficit to restore confidence in our economy – is based on enduring ideas and principles: hard work, fair play, rewarding people for doing the right thing, and securing a better future for our children.’
Writing in The Spectator magazine today, Mr Gove said that the popular image of Christianity was at odds with the reality of churches across the country, which daily offered ‘ thousands of quiet kindnesses’ to those most in need.
‘To call yourself a Christian in contemporary Britain is to invite pity, condescension or cool dismissal.’
NICK CLEGG is on course to lose his seat to Labour, a poll suggested yesterday. A survey of voters in the Lib Dem leader’s Sheffield Hallam constituency put Labour on 36 per cent of the vote compared with 34 per cent for the Liberal Democrats.
‘Compassion and forgiveness’