Church of England bishops do not understand their flocks and are not doing a very good job, Nigel Farage has claimed in a blistering tirade.
Farage says bishops have ‘heads in sand’ (Image: Getty)
Church of England Bishops do not understand their flocks and are not doing a very good job, Nigel Farage has claimed. In a blistering tirade at Anglican leadership, the Reform UK leader said senior clergy had a “rather twisted view of what their flock in this country actually want them to do”, after some criticised him over his immigration policies.
Mr Farage was speaking at a press conference in Dover as his ‘shadow home secretary’, businessman Zia Yusuf, announced their new program for dealing with immigration. In response to a question about his views of Bishops criticising his previous statements on refugees, the Reform leader said clerics had their “heads in the sand” on the issue.
He added: “If they cannot see that aggressive young males chucking their phones and passports into the English channel at the twelve mile line” is a threat to the country then “frankly they are not doing a very good job”. Last year, the Bishop of York at the time called Mr Farage’s plans “isolationist, short-term” and “knee-jerk”.
Mr Farage was speaking at an event in the South of England where Mr Yusuf was outlining plans to secure the border as well as to protect Britain’s Christian heritage. Speaking earlier, Mr Yusuf said that he could “see that so much of what makes Britain such a great country is associated and irrevocably derived from Britain’s Christian heritage.”
He announced a policy to prevent Churches that were no longer in use from being converted into mosques or any other place of worship. Blasting the idea as incendiary, he said it “cuts to the heart of what it means to protect our culture.” However, Mr Yusuf said a Reform government would not prevent former churches being turned into nightclubs, saying: “Look, if you are a legislator and you are trying to pass legislation, you have got to draw the line somewhere.”
Yusuf announces church conversion ban policy (Image: Getty)
Mr Farage has attacked members of the clergy before, and earlier in his speech suggested that more people would go to Church if “we had better Archbishops”. He has frequently said the party he leads is not against genuine refugees, but he has stated that he believes the country’s generosity toward migrants has been abused.
The Church of England was approached for comment.
