Church of England bishops against Nigel Farage’s plan to deport illegal immigrants probably are speaking for the general public related to their dioceses. But they mustn’t think that they’re speaking for the British public.
No polling organisation has yet done a survey of C of E attenders’ views on the Reform UK leader’s plan to combat illegal immigration. But a YouGov poll in 2022 of C of E members’ views on same-sex marriage, showing a majority in favour, indicates that the national Church is now a largely left-wing institution.
At his press conference in Oxford on 26 August when Farage announced his plan to deport 600,000 illegal immigrants within the five years of a Reform government, a Daily Mirror reporter asked him how he would react if his proposals to return asylum seekers to countries corresponding to Afghanistan, Iran and Eritrea were strongly criticised by Christian leaders.
Farage said: “Whoever the Christian leaders are at any given cut-off date, I believe during the last many years quite just a few of them have been reasonably out of touch, perhaps with their very own flock. Given the sorts of people appointed to be the Archbishop of Canterbury, that might be the largest understatement of the day.”
Because of the mainly left-wing middle-class composition of their dioceses, C of E leaders corresponding to the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, and the Bishop of Oxford, Steven Croft, who’ve spoken out against Farage’s plan, probably are in contact with their very own ‘flocks’ on this issue.
On 28 August Croft issued a strongly-worded open letter to Farage denouncing his plan. Croft wrote on his blog: “I heard no compassion in what you said for individuals who are in danger from people traffickers; those that fled for his or her lives; those that long for sanctuary and safety; the vulnerable who could be forcibly deported.
“The British people, as I understand them, want public policies founded on the deeply British and Christian values of compassion and look after those in need.”
Croft drew applause from C of E liberals. General Synod member and leading campaigner for same-sex marriage acceptance within the Church, the Rev Charlie Baczyk-Bell, said on X that he was “very grateful to the Bishop of Oxford” for telling Farage: “Most of all, I disagree profoundly along with your attempts to politicise the questions of migration and asylum by deliberately increasing fear of the stranger in our communities.”
Croft’s diocese covers Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. There are around 55,000 people related to churches and chaplaincies in Croft’s diocese out of a population across the three counties of two.1 million.
In his overwhelmingly liberal middle-class diocese within the South of England, Croft almost actually is speaking for many Anglican churchgoers in opposing Farage’s policy, but how can he claim to talk for the British people on a political issue?
In the 2024 General Election 4 million people voted for Reform UK, giving Farage’s party a 14 per cent share of the vote. But a poll in August by BMG Research gave Reform 35 per cent of the vote, a 15-point lead over Labour. “If repeated at an election, it might deliver {Reform} a landslide majority of greater than 400 seats {within the House of Commons}, leaving Labour with fewer than 100 and the Conservatives near being worn out completely,” BMG said.
As evidenced by its parliamentary by-election victory over Labour in Runcorn and Helsby in May, Reform is doing higher in attracting working class people than the C of E. Speaking on Times Radio this week, leading political commentator Andrew Neil said: “Reform is the working-class party now. Reform is much more working class than the Labour Party now…At the moment we’re heading for a historic realignment.”
Last May the C of E announced its preliminary attendance figures for 2024. The press release put an optimistic spin on the numbers:
“The overall number of standard worshippers across the Church of England’s congregations grew to 1.02 million in 2024, an increase of 1.2 per cent, based on an early snapshot of the annual Statistics for Mission findings. It was the second 12 months in a row during which the Church of England’s ‘worshipping community’ – the combined number of standard members of local congregations – has stood above one million for the reason that Covid-19 pandemic.”
However positively the national Church presents its figures, 4 million people voted for Reform in 2024 in comparison with the a million the C of E had in its ‘worshipping community’. On this comparison alone, is it not presumptuous of C of E bishops to assert to talk politically for the British public?
Rather than lecturing politicians, how about setting an example to their flocks in daring proclamation of the biblical gospel of everlasting salvation from sin and death through faith within the Lord Jesus Christ for people of all races, cultures and backgrounds?
Julian Mann, a former Church of England vicar, is an evangelical journalist based in Lancashire.
 Church of England bishops against Nigel Farage’s plan to deport illegal immigrants probably are speaking for the general public related to their dioceses....){kind=link}