Welby attacks ‘cruel’ handling of migrant boat crisis
Archbishop takes swipe at the Home Secretary, but is warned by Tory peer against virtue signalling
HANDLING of the Channel migrant crisis has been attacked as “cruel” and “harmful” by Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
In a speech to the Lords, he took a swipe at Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, criticising her rhetoric over the small boats chaos, and branded the “hostile environment” towards asylum seekers “immoral”, saying the Rwanda policy was “a mistake” that “will be a failure”. But he was accused of “virtue signalling” by a Tory peer who said his “high-minded pronouncements” ignored the will of ordinary voters.
The Most Rev Welby repeatedly criticised the Government and accused it of pursuing a “shrill narrative” that demonised refugees. He hit out at the “disgraceful politicisation” of the role of the Border Force and the RNLI in rescuing migrants from small boats.
“Recognition of human dignity is the first principle which must underpin our asylum policy. A hostile environment is an immoral environment,” he said.
“When we fail to challenge the harmful rhetoric that refugees are the cause of this country’s ills – that they should be treated as problems not people, invaders to be tackled and deterred – we deny the essential value and dignity of fellow human beings.
“The right to seek asylum and the duty of the global community together to protect refugees has been politically degraded in this country when it should be a positive source of pride.”
He said ministers should have “confidence to reject the shrill narrative that all who come to us for help should be treated as liars, scroungers or less than fully human”.
His remarks will be seen as a direct swipe at Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, and Mrs Braverman, who have vowed to crack down on illegal migration. Last month the Home Secretary sparked uproar in the Commons when she branded the number of small boat arrivals an “invasion on our southern coast”.
Baroness Stowell, a Conservative peer, said the Most Rev Welby’s remarks dismissed the “valid concerns of the majority of our citizens opposed to the rates of people entering the UK”.
She added: “When did virtue signalling to one another within the elite become more important than keeping faith with the values we all have in common regardless of our status?
“We’ve allowed criminal gangs and opportunists to weaponise our differences and to endanger the lives of economic migrants.
“If that’s not bad enough, we’re increasing divisions in our society by suggesting the democratic wishes of the majority don’t matter. Dismissing people’s concerns drives distrust in the democratic process.”
Lord Murray, a Home Office minister, insisted: “Not all those who claim to be refugees are actually refugees. We must be sensible and not naive about this.”
The Most Rev Welby has been a repeated critic of recent Conservative governments, attacking their austerity policies and branding Brexit “divisive”.
Labour accused the Government of spouting “rhetoric” that hasn’t been matched by action. Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, called for a “common sense” approach that would “save substantial sums of money”.
“It is a chaotic system, decision-making in the Home Office has collapsed, and that’s why we will get a grip on this,” she told the BBC. Labour would bring in a new fast-tracking process for asylum applicants from “safe” countries.