As the Archbishop shines in the spotlight, the Church has never needed saving more

In this age of many faiths and none, it is time for the King to cast the Church of England loose, writes Mary Dejevsky

Thanks to all manner of social and demographic change, the CofE has lost much of the primacy it once enjoyed (PA Wire)

The leader of the Church of England has attracted – how shall we say? – a mixed response for his House of Lords speech on the Illegal Migration Bill. Spearheading opposition to the proposed legislation, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, described the measures designed to curb small boat crossings as “morally unacceptable” and warned of damage to the UK’s “interests and reputation at home and abroad”.

Some applauded his speech as exactly the sort of thing the archbishop should be saying, giving a voice to the voiceless. Others deplored not just his sentiments, but his very participation in the debate, asking by what right the country’s most senior cleric had a perch in the upper chamber of parliament at all, and then used it to challenge the will of an elected government.

I come down somewhere in the middle. My view is that Welby was indeed doing exactly what a church leader should do – and too often, in Welby’s case, has not. His acquiescence in the closure of churches during the pandemic was woeful. So it was good to see him showing some spine here.