Mullally denounces misuse of faith following Tommy Robinson rally

The Archbishop of Canterbury has denounced the misuse of faith to “intimidate and divide” in what some have interpreted as a veiled attack on Tommy Robinson and his Unite the Kingdom rally.

Speaking within the House of Lords, days after the rally attended by hundreds in London, Archbishop Sarah Mullally said there needed to be a “renewal of hope in our country” and a “rejection of hatred and division”. 

Ahead of the event Robinson, who converted to Christianity last yr, said that the rally was all about promoting “unity” and in the times before the event spoke of the necessity for a return to faith within the country and of a spiritual awakening occurring, particularly amongst young men.

Speaking to historian David Starkey, Robinson talked of fixing the political culture of Britain “through celebration, through identity, through re-bringing Christianity back into the main target, by re-understanding who we’re as people, what’s made this nation”.

“I’m witnessing a revival in men … In fields across the UK on Saturday mornings – they’re not going to church on Sundays. They’re training, they’re praying they usually’re being stronger together for one another.”

Reports suggest that 60,000 people attended the Unite the Kingdom rally, although at previous events there was dispute concerning the numbers, with Robinson and his supporters giving figures significantly higher than police estimates.

As well as being a pro-British event, the rally was explicitly Christian in parts, with many participants carrying crosses, chanting “Christ is king”, group recitations of the Lord’s prayer and speeches from clergy.

In her Lords speech, Mullaly said, “We have also seen religious identity misused to intimidate and divide. Let us be clear: to follow Jesus Christ is to like your neighbour as yourself, to like without exception and to hunt the flourishing of all.”

She also spoke of the necessity to tackle the “deeply concerning deterioration in intercommunity relations”.

She added, “We must undertake the harder task of bringing communities together, of constructing strangers neighbours, and ensuring that every one who reside here have each the chance and the responsibility to contribute to our shared life.”