The Bishop of Norwich has waded into the febrile national debate on immigration with a strong rebuke of the government’s plans to tighten the asylum system.
The Rt Rev Graham Usher has accused Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, of “lumping all asylum seekers together” under the proposals.
Her sweeping reforms, announced this week, include limiting refugees to temporary stays, overhauling human rights law to help increase deportations and threatening countries with visa bans unless they accept returns of criminals and illegal immigrants.
The bishop, who sits in the House of Lords, is the most senior cleric to speak out against the plans, saying they would make integration harder as refugees would “feel unable to put down roots”.
He joins other critics, including refugee groups and Labour backbenchers who have branded some aspects of the reforms “cruel”.
Migrants onboard a small boat in Gravelines, France., November 7. (Image: Gareth Fuller)
However, his comments may also put him and the Church of England under scrutiny, with critics likely to question whether it is appropriate for him to intervene in the political debate.
The Church in past has been accused – including by many of its supporters – of peddling platitudes and “well meaning cliches” on immigration.
Conversely, many in government are likely to relish the cleric’s attack, believing it will help convince the public they are finally fixing an immigration system widely regarded as broken and which has led to rising community tensions.
Ministers see the reforms as a crucial way to chip away at Reform’s lead in the polls.
The Rt Rev Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich (Image: Diocese of Norwich/Luke W Bryant)
In his lengthy rebuke of the Home Office plans, the bishop said: “Many people understandably have concerns about the numbers of those seeking asylum in the UK.
“I believe that there needs to be a good, evidence-based debate on this subject, but that we also need to see the humanity of each person.
“Rather than scapegoating and stereotyping a diverse group of people, our local and national political leaders need to foster open and honest conversation as well as ways to bring our communities and nation together.
“Norwich and Norfolk has a long tradition of welcoming the stranger.
“As Christians we remember both that Jesus was himself a refugee escaping tyranny and a violent despot at an early age, and his teachings to love our neighbour.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood arriving for a Cabinet meeting in Downing Street, London. (Image: Ben Whitley)
“I have met individuals and families who have experienced oppression, torture and violence. Their stories are powerful and moving.
“They have fled their homelands in utter fear and found a welcome in Norfolk, rebuilding shattered lives and integrating well, often with the support of kind and open-hearted local people; volunteers in churches, charities and communities.
“I am conscious that the current rhetoric has raised concerns about the personal safety of those minority ethnic communities long settled here, as well as those from overseas who are here legally to work in care homes, hospitals, agriculture and other industries.
“My concern about the proposals are that they lump all asylum seekers together without understanding their different experiences, backgrounds and motivations, and make integration more difficult if refugees feel unable to put down roots.
“We need a long-term plan as migration will only increase with violent regimes and climate change fuelling scarcity, conflict and war.”
Ms Mahmood has stood by the proposals, stating the plans will help restore order and control the UK’s borders.
She said: “This country will always offer sanctuary to those fleeing danger, but we must also acknowledge that the world has changed and our asylum system has not changed with it.”
She added: “The burden that has fallen on this country has been heavy. 400,000 have sought asylum here in the last four years.
“Over 100,000 people now live in asylum accommodation, and over half of refugees remain on benefits eight years after they have arrived.
“To the British public, who foot the bill, the system feels out of control and unfair. It feels that way, because it is.
“The pace and scale of change has destabilised communities. It is making our country a more divided place.”
Bishop Graham’s remarks follow criticism of Ms Mahmood’s announcement by Rt Rev Dr Anderson Jeremiah, the Bishop of Edmonton and the diocese of London’s lead for racial justice.
He said the home secretary’s comments “shook me to the core” and argued people coming to the UK are being “scapegoated” for years of government policy failures.
Senior clergymen have previously spoken out against attempts to reform the immigration system.
In 2023, the then Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said the government’s plans to crack down on illegal immigration were “morally unacceptable and politically impractical”.
Earlier this year, Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York and then acting head of the Church, described proposals by Reform UK to deport illegal immigrants as “kneejerk” and said they would not “solve the problem”.
THE EDP SAYS…
The most striking thing about the Bishop of Norwich’s remarks on the home secretary’s asylum reforms is how predictable they are.
He criticises them, highlighting the plight of refugees and concern for how the reforms will affect them.
It is a perfectly reasonable argument, held by many and which he makes well.
But there is another argument that can also be made in a compassionate and, yes, a Christian way: that unbridled immigration can bring harms as well as benefits, particularly to the most vulnerable in society, and that it is commendable for a government to want to better control its national border by re-examining its asylum policy.
Yet it seems unthinkable that any bishop would ever advocate such a view, though it is a case made by many of their congregants.
The Church – or at least its leadership – is in danger of becoming a bastion of the lanyard class, the not-so-complimentary term for a cloistered, managerialist cadre focused on progressive dogma which critics say has taken over so many institutions.
The bishop’s comments seem pure lanyardism.
He concedes there should be a debate but gives no apparent acknowledgement of the need for tighter controls or a re-examination of the UK asylum policy.
And with his warning about “current rhetoric” there’s the implication that those seeking debate on this subject are to blame for rising tensions.
It is a classic tactic of lanyardism to close down and to try to police arguments by shrouding one’s own side in virtue while casting aspersions on those who disagree.
In its pronouncements, on climate change, immigration and other fashionable causes, the Church often seems to echo the latest Guardian leader column, as much as the Book of Common Prayer.
After all, immigration looks very different from a bishop’s official residence to how it does to someone on a housing waiting list.
The bishop is a good, thoughtful holy man and we are lucky to have him in this diocese.
But it is the dog collar, not the lanyard, that we want him to represent.
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