Archbishop of Canterbury stands by criticism of Government migrant policy

The Archbishop of Canterbury has said he will continue to speak out against the Government’s migrant policy, as he denied attacking the Home Secretary personally.

Justin Welby faced criticism from Tory MP Jonathan Gullis after he used a speech in the House of Lords to rebuke the Government’s immigration policy and predicted that the Rwanda scheme was destined to fail.

In a wide-ranging interview with Channel 4 News, the Archbishop denied that he had personally attacked Suella Braverman as he insisted he would continue to express his views on what he called a “moral” issue.

“Everything’s a political issue. I mean, absolutely everything,” he said.

Something can be legal and still wrong

He denied he had used his speech to “lay into” Ms Braverman, saying: “I’ve never laid into the Home Secretary.

“I talk about policy, not people. That would be a welcome change from a lot of politics.”

The Archbishop used his speech in the Lords to warn that “control has become cruelty” while also arguing that the Rwanda scheme would be a failure.

He refused to relent or row back on his remarks, after it was put to him that the High Court had ruled the controversial policy lawful.

The Archbishop told the programme that he would continue to speak out on the issue of migration and asylum policy, adding that he had not been wrong in his views on the plan.

“No, absolutely not.

“We never said it was legal or illegal. We said it’s wrong. Something can be legal and still wrong.”

“I don’t think it will be a success for a lot of reasons,” the Archbishop said.

Earlier this week, Ms Braverman said she was committed to sending migrants to Rwanda as soon as possible after the High Court decision but Downing Street admitted it was impossible to say when flights could take off while the threat of further legal action remained.