SUNDAY EXPRESS: Five days from now we shall have voted, or more likely according to the opinion polls not have voted, in the European elections and the ecclesiastical establishment is getting its gaiters in a twist over its fear that we shall do something stupid.
The well-intentioned although from time to time rather silly Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has been joined by the usually sensible Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu in issuing a rare joint statement.
Recognising the anger that exposure of the House of Commons expenses scandal has caused they urge that at a time of turbulence and disgust with the main political parties voters must avoid voting for the British National Party.
Their unprecedented intervention may have been prompted by an opinion poll that found that more than 25 per cent of the electorate is planning to reject the Westminster Establishment in the June 4 elections.
Yet the Church may have already undermined its authority to lecture the country about its behaviour. For one thing it supports multiculturalism and open-door immigration, outraging the vast majority of the population who were never asked if that was what they wanted, and the Archbishops have given the oxygen of publicity to a political party which is only a marginal force.
They may also have compounded their mistakes by assuming that we will put up with being told how we must, or must not, vote. The Archbishops’ intervention has been arrogant, patronising and unnecessary. >>> Jimmy Young | Sunday, May 31, 2009
