Archbishop of Canterbury

ARCHBISHOPS of Canterbury question Government policy – it’s what they do.

Tony Blair yesterday reminded us he was assailed by turbulent priests. Margaret Thatcher faced (in our view, with good reason) ferocious criticism in the 1980s.

So David Cameron should take a chill pill after Dr Rowan Williams voiced concern about the impact of the Coalition on the vulnerable, low paid and communities.

The Archbishop is entitled to express opinions on issues which he believes concern the welfare of his flock. Indeed it would be wrong for him not to do so.

The Prime Minister acknowledged that but his sweeping dismissal of Dr Williams’ comments betrayed his deep irritation.

And Mr Cameron has good reason to be rattled. Because the criticism reflects a growing feeling this regime is inflicting pain and pursuing policies without a mandate.

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s truth hurts David Cameron.

Let Kelly rest

ON balance we believe it would have been better to hold an inquest into the death of Dr David Kelly to put conspiracy theories to bed.

The suicide of the Iraq weapons scientist will forever be controversial and we acknowledge that a hearing which found he’d killed himself wouldn’t satisfy the conspiracy theorists.

But the Attorney General Dominic Grieve decided otherwise and it’s time to move on.

Mr Grieve is a straightforward, punctilious law officer. He made the call on the evidence and it’s insulting to suggest otherwise.

The archbishop has denounced France's ban on the wearing of hijabs and voiced his fears that Muslims were being portrayed as scapegoats for the July 7, 2005 London bombings.

But the present media storm surrounding Dr Williams has yet to achieve the degree of prominence prompted by his comments on Sharia law in 2008.

His claim it was "inevitable" that elements of the Islamic law will be incorporated into the British legal system made him the subject of headlines - many of them negative - for weeks.

Dr Williams' criticism of American special forces' killing earlier this year of an allegedly unarmed Osama bin Laden indicated he had no intention of halting his polemics.

He once said: "Even when I was Archbishop of Wales and working with new bishops, I used to say, not realising quite how true it was, 'One of the things you will do as a bishop is disappoint people'."

And as his stint as editor of the New Statesman shows, he is unlikely to stop disappointing some while pleasing others any time soon.

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