DAILY MAIL COMMENT: An unholy attack by out-of-touch bishops
As the highest members of the Church of England and good Christians, it’s only natural that the Lords Spiritual should be concerned about society’s most vulnerable.
When they enter the bear-pit of politics, however, we should at least expect measured contributions to the debate.
Yesterday, by intemperately attacking the Government’s plan to stem the tide of small boats crossing the Channel, they strayed dangerously into Left-wing partisanship.
In his latest ill-judged foray, the Archbishop of Canterbury denounced Rishi Sunak’s proposals to detain and fly Channel migrants to Rwanda for asylum processing as ‘morally unacceptable’.
But isn’t it immoral to stand by while criminal gangs make immense profits encouraging families to risk their lives on perilous journeys in unsafe dinghies? What a pity Justin Welby didn’t reserve his condemnation for the people-smugglers – not ministers toiling to end their evil trade.
In his latest ill-judged foray, the Archbishop of Canterbury denounced Rishi Sunak’s proposals to detain and fly Channel migrants to Rwanda for asylum processing as ‘morally unacceptable’
The Bishop of Durham, criticising the detention of migrant children, quoted Jesus: ‘It would be better to have a millstone around the neck and be cast into the sea than to cause a little one to stumble.’
Given that dozens of migrants have drowned, these were not only imprudent words. They miss the point spectacularly.
If the Rwanda plan succeeds, it will deter traffickers, save lives, reduce pressure on overstretched public services, and allow Britain to concentrate resources on the genuine refugees we have always helped.
For all their sanctimonious posing as humanitarians, by joining Labour and the Left in undermining the Illegal Migration Bill in the Lords, the bishops are in effect collaborating with cross-Channel gangs.
Once again, senior clergy have shown how out of touch the Church is with ordinary people, who want immigration controlled.
Their role is primarily spiritual. If they want to make political assaults, they should hang up their mitres and stand for election.
Unhappy marriage
Twelve years ago in a referendum the Lib Dems demanded as their price for joining the Tories in coalition, the public soundly rejected a change to the voting system.
Today, the party is making it clear the price of propping up Labour in a hung parliament would be proportional representation. And this time, the party wouldn’t leave it to the people’s judgment.
The Lib Dems are making it clear the price of propping up Labour in a hung parliament would be proportional representation (Pictured: Labour leader Keir Starmer (left) and Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey (right)
Ditching our first-past-the-post electoral system is the only way they could win more than a handful of seats. But it would lead to zombie governments stricken by paralysis.
In his desperation to get into No10, who would bet against Sir Keir signing up to such a dishonest, damaging and anti-democratic marriage of convenience?
Electric dream stalls
The transport revolution to forcibly convert us to electric cars by 2030 looks less credible with every passing day.
The Government is committed to banning sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles by the end of the decade, yet there remains a woeful shortage of public charging points.
And that’s far from the only snag. Compared with traditional motors, battery cars have derisory range, take a long time to recharge and are hideously expensive.
Is it any surprise that enthusiasm for them is stalling? Unless ministers address these problems, their vision for electric cars will backfire like an old banger.
To fight stubbornly high inflation, the Bank of England looks set to raise interest rates to their highest since 2008.
That will place more strain on household budgets by making mortgages dearer.
Yet as grasping institutions, banks will invariably drag their heels over passing on any benefit to savers.
No wonder MPs are probing this rip-off. The banks taketh with one hand… and taketh with the other.
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