The Bishop of Oxford has published an open letter to Nigel Farage, criticising the Reform UK leader’s plans to overhaul Britain’s immigration system and accusing him of stoking fear.
Writing after Farage’s press conference in Oxford, Bishop Steven Croft described town as “certainly one of the kindest and most welcoming within the country” and said he was “profoundly” against Reform’s proposals, which include deporting 600,000 migrants and withdrawing from international legal frameworks just like the European Convention on Human Rights.
He wrote: “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 can be forcibly deported.
“The British people, as I understand them, want public policies founded on the deeply British and Christian values of compassion and take care of those in need.”
He said that the Reform leader’s plans offered “broad brush” domestic crackdowns, and ignored the worldwide complexity of migration, including the role of climate change, conflict, and international inequality.
“Migration is a world issue, not a neighborhood issue,” he said.
“Migration into Europe affects our neighbours. International co-operation is vital to resolving and improving the situation… I heard nothing about collaboration apart from attempting to barter bilateral agreements to return those that enter the country illegally.”
The bishop, who’s a patron of refugee support charity Asylum Welcome, also criticised Farage’s approach for raising “hopes for some without the technique of delivery,” arguing that previous governments had already struggled due to a scarcity of “compassion, attention to complexity, collaboration, or attention to the granular challenges of law and resources.”
Although he said he sympathised with individuals who have real concerns in regards to the impact of migration, the bishop went on to accuse Farage of fear mongering, as he called for cross-party solutions.
“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,” he said.
He continued, “Community cohesion and mutual respect are vital assets in any area people.
“To see any politician with a public platform in search of to play on these fears and stoke division for political advantage is deeply disturbing.
“We will not be helped by politicians who seek to stoke division for their very own political ends.”
His intervention follows sharp criticism of Reform’s policy from the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, who, as interim head of the Church of England, said on Sky News that mass deportations were a “knee-jerk” response that may make the issue worse.
“You haven’t solved the issue,” said Archbishop Cottrell said. “You’ve just put it some place else and also you’ve done nothing to handle the difficulty of what brings people to this country.”
He continued: “Don’t misunderstand me, I actually have every sympathy with those that find this difficult, every sympathy – as I do with those living in poverty.
“But … we should always actively resist the form of isolationist, short term knee-jerk ‘send them home’.”
Farage has dismissed church leaders’ concerns, accusing them of being “out of touch”.
“Quite a couple of of them have been relatively out of touch, perhaps with their very own flock,” he said.
In his Oxford announcement, he insisted that Reform’s approach was vital to revive order: “We imagine that what we’re offering is true and proper and we imagine for a political party that was founded across the slogan of family, community, country, that we’re doing right by all of those things with these plans we recommend today.”
Within the Church of England, some voices argue that its senior leaders have oversimplified the difficulty.
Writing in a recent column for The Critic, priest Simon Brennan said that church leaders often lean on “well-meaning clichés” about compassion, justice and community, while failing to grapple with the tougher theological and cultural realities of large-scale migration.
Brennan noted that bishops ceaselessly cite passages akin to the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37) or Israel’s command to like the stranger (Leviticus 19:33–34), but argued this risks being “anachronistic.”
He suggested that biblical teaching on Israel also included warnings in regards to the dangers of cultural dilution and the necessity to remain distinct as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6).”
“We really should have the ability to expect more from our Bishops than for them to easily offer soft-Left platitudes that sound like they were drafted by Peter Mandelson in 1998,” Brennan wrote.
He called on the Church “to offer a deeper theological reflection on what ‘loving your neighbour’ means in Twenty first-century Britain,” balancing compassion for refugees with responsibility toward long-standing communities unsettled by rapid demographic change.
Concluding, Brennan said that there was “a transparent sense that over the previous few years there was a rapid and significant cultural change within the country and at present the Church of England is way behind by way of what is occurring”.
