{"id":106390,"date":"2025-09-01T06:48:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T06:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/106390\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T06:48:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T06:48:10","slug":"archbishop-slams-farages-uk-asylum-policy-as-knee-jerk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/106390\/","title":{"rendered":"Archbishop slams Farage\u2019s UK asylum policy as \u2018knee-jerk\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Farage<\/a>Protesters gather outside The Bell Hotel, as the British government won a court ruling resulting in asylum seekers not being evicted from the hotel in Epping, Britain, August 31, 2025. REUTERS\/Jack Taylor<\/p>\n

Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York, has sharply rebuked Nigel Farage, leader of Britain\u2019s Reform UK party, over his proposal to deport large numbers of asylum seekers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cottrell called the plan an \u201cisolationist, short-term, knee-jerk\u201d reaction, arguing it fails to address the deeper humanitarian and political challenges of migration.<\/a><\/p>\n

Cottrell, the Church of England\u2019s second most senior clergyman who is performing some functions of the Archbishop of Canterbury while a new head of the Church is selected, told Sky News that Brexit veteran Farage was \u201cnot offering any long-term solution to the big issues which are convulsing our world\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said in an pre-recorded interview aired on Sunday that people should \u201cactively resist the kind of isolationist, short-term, knee-jerk \u2026 send them home\u201d policies.<\/p>\n

In response, Reform UK\u2019s deputy leader, Richard Tice, said \u201cthe role of the Archbishop is not actually to interfere with international migration policy that is determined by the government\u201d.<\/p>\n

Asylum Seekers<\/p>\n

Cottrell\u2019s criticism is the latest in a growing row in Britain over how to deal with the large numbers of asylum seekers arriving in boats, an issue which has seen weeks of summer protests outside hotels where some of them are housed.<\/p>\n

The Labour government says it is tackling a problem left by earlier, Conservative administrations by trying to process asylum claims more quickly and brokering return deals with other nations, but is under growing pressure to act fast.<\/p>\n

Reform UK, which has a commanding lead in opinion polls before an election expected to take place in 2029, took the initiative to lead on the issue last week when Farage unveiled his party\u2019s plans to remove asylum seekers by repealing or disapplying treaties used to block forced deportations.<\/p>\n

Cottrell said those plans did little to address the main issue of why asylum seekers wanted to travel to Britain, and \u201cso if you think that\u2019s the answer you will discover, in due course, that all you have done is made the problem worse\u201d.<\/p>\n

(With inputs from Reuters)<\/p>\n

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