Britain's two most senior Church leaders will today plead with the public not to vote for the British National Party in next month’s European elections in protest at MPs’ lavish expenses. In a rare joint statement, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York will acknowledge the ‘understandable’ anger that the furore over Commons allowances has caused.
But Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu will say that at a time of ‘extraordinary turbulence’ voters must avoid rewarding the ‘divisive’ BNP.
Their unprecedented intervention follows an opinion poll showing that more than a quarter of the electorate are planning to reject the Westminster Establishment in the June 4 elections.
In their statement, the Archbishops say: ‘The temptation to stay away or register a protest vote in order to send a negative signal to the parties represented at Westminster will be strong.
‘In our view, however, it would be tragic if the understandable sense of anger and disillusionment with some MPs over recent revelations led voters to shun the ballot box.’
They say it is ‘crucial’ to elect people who wish to uphold democratic values and work for the ‘common good in a spirit of public service’, which they say ‘urgently needs to be reaffirmed in these difficult days’.
The Archbishops, whose statement was agreed at a meeting of all the Church of England bishops last week, are particularly worried that the BNP may benefit from voters’ determination to punish mainstream parties.
The Church leaders are alarmed by the BNP’s attempt to ‘hijack’ the Church by claiming to be the party that will best defend Britain’s Christian values.
To emphasise their distance from the political party, the Church of England General Synod voted earlier this year to ban clergy from joining the BNP.
The Archbishops say in the statement: ‘Christians have been deeply disturbed by the conscious adoption by the BNP of the language of our faith...to foster fear and division...especially between people of different faiths or racial backgrounds.
‘This is not a moment for voting in favour of any political party whose core ideology is about sowing division in our communities and hostility on grounds of race, creed or colour.’
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Dr Sentamu added: ‘I would urge people to walk the middle road, avoiding the ditches of extremism on either side.
‘Guilt by association has always been a weapon of dictators. So we must be careful not to smear all local and European candidates with the wrongdoing of some in Westminster.’
He also urged people to use their vote, saying: ‘It saddens me that Britain – the mother of representative parliamentary democracy – has such a low turnout for elections and one of the lowest in comparative systems.’
The statement follows a newspaper article in which Dr Williams attacked MPs who defend excessive expense claims by insisting that ‘no rules were broken’.
Writing in The Times, he called for a return to personal integrity, but he also said it was time to stop humiliating politicians or risk seriously damaging the democratic system.
The new head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, said MPs had given way to the ‘easy temptation of greed’.
He added: ‘The challenge is not to hide behind the rules, but to manifest the kind of virtue that we need.’
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Source (DM)
SV (ED)