Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby: There is no immigrant ‘menace’
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Version 0 of 1. The Archbishop of Canterbury has delivered a sharp rebuke to politicians who attempted to portray immigration as a “deep menace” to Britain. The Most Rev Justin Welby, who stressed he was not criticising any individual, appealed for moderation in public comments on immigration. “Do I worry about the language? Yes I do, I really do,” he told a Westminster lunch. He said immigration should not be treated as “a deep menace that is somehow going to overwhelm a country that has coped with many waves of immigration and has usually done so with enormous success”. The Archbishop said clergy were reporting “an upsurge of minor racist and xenophobic” sentiment. The increase was “not major things, just comments being made, things being said which are for the people who grew up in those backgrounds uncomfortable”. He was speaking 24 hours after the Defence Secretary Michael Fallon provoked anger by claiming some parts of England felt “swamped” and “under siege” from foreign arrivals. Mr Fallon was rebuked by Downing Street and has admitted he was a “bit careless” over his choice of words. |