Great idea, says BBC’s right-on priest
HE is the self-styled ‘trendy’ Left-wing priest who has become the BBC’s go-to clergyman.
A regular contributor to Radio 4’s Thought for the Day, Dr Giles Fraser is also a panellist on the BBC’s Moral Maze discussion show.
Yesterday he described the Corporation’s decision to film a segment of Songs of Praise in the Calais migrant camp – for an episode in which he will feature – as a ‘great idea’. ‘They aren’t illegal immigrants, yet,’ said Dr Fraser, who visited the camp. ‘I have no problem with the BBC filming Songs of Praise here. I think the church is the real thing. It is in the centre of the community.’
Dr Fraser, 50, is a private schoolboy turned Leftwing activist, who famously resigned from his job as Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s over the cathedral’s decision to evict protesters from the Occupy camp outside. He pledged his support for the activ- ists – who were protesting against corporate greed – despite the fact they forced the cathedral to shut its doors to the public, resulting in losses of around £20,000 a day. Dr Fraser is now is priest-incharge at St Mary’s Newington in south London.
He has spoken at Levellers’ Day – a trade unionbacked celebration where he sat next to Tony Benn – and has come out in favour of far-Left Labour leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn.
Writing in his Guardian column yesterday, he told how he visited the camp known as the Jungle to show solidarity with his fellow Christians.
He said: ‘The purpose of my Calais visit was instinctive. I wanted to say a prayer in the makeshift Ethiopian church – St Michael’s.
‘I’m a Christian, so I have a special connection for fellow Christians. But the crisis here is not religious: it is humanitarian.’