Archbishop of Canterbury attacks Government’s ‘cruel’ approach to the migrant crisis

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has attacked the Government’s approach to the Channel migrant crisis as “cruel” and “harmful”.

In a speech to the Lords, he took a swipe at Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, criticising her rhetoric over the small boats chaos.

He branded the “hostile environment” towards asylum seekers “immoral” and said the Rwanda policy is “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 and Mrs Braverman, who have both vowed to crack down on illegal migration.

It came as Labour went on the attack over the small boats crisis, accusing 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” for the taxpayer.

“It is a chaotic system at the moment, 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 in a bid to clear the backlog of claims.

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 who are opposed to the current rates of people entering the UK”.

“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?” she asked him.

‘We must be sensible, not naive’

“We’ve allowed criminal gangs and opportunists to weaponise our differences and to endanger the lives of economic migrants in the process.

“If that’s not bad enough, at the same time we’re increasing the divisions in our society by suggesting the democratic wishes of the majority don’t matter.

“High-minded pronouncements, hand-wringing and the free for all it’s creating is what’s putting lives in danger, not doing everything we can to deter people from illegally crossing the Channel.

“Dismissing people’s concerns fuels divisions and drives distrust in the democratic process.”

Lord Murray, a Home Office minister, defended the Government’s record insisting “it is of course not immoral to have a limit or restrictions on migration”.

“Not all those who claim to be refugees are actually refugees. It is not immoral to point this out. We must be sensible and not naive about this,” he said.

“Although our compassion may be limitless, our capacity, resources and infrastructures to help people are finite.

“The public expects us to control migration, uphold our immigration laws and discourage those who would risk their lives by making unsafe and unnecessary journeys to the UK across the Channel.”

It is not the first time the Archbishop of Canterbury has angered senior Tories by criticising the Government’s border policies.

In April he attacked the Rwanda plan, questioning its morality and suggesting it would not “stand the judgement of God”.

Sir John Redwood, a Tory MP and former Cabinet minister, accused him of “sharpening political divisions” with the remarks.

The Most Rev Welby has been a repeated critic of recent Conservative governments, also attacking their austerity policies and branding Brexit “divisive”.