Archbishop criticises PM over ‘radical cuts nobody voted for’

BRITAIN’S most senior church leader accused the coalition government of causing widespread anxiety over austerity policies that it had not spelled out to voters before last year’s election.

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, made the comments in a New Statesman article this week.

Prime Minister David Cameron said the head of the Church of England was free to speak out but added that he profoundly disagreed with his comments.

“With remarkable speed, we are being committed to radical, long-term policies for which no one voted,” wrote Williams.

“At the very least, there is an understandable anxiety about what democracy means in such a context.”

Cameron’s government announced radical reforms of the state-funded health service and education in its first year. It has also started an austerity drive to cut spending in most government departments by 20%.

“Government badly needs to hear just how much plain fear there is around such questions at present,” Williams wrote.

It is unusual but not unprecedented for the spiritual leader of the 80-million strong worldwide Anglican Communion, to speak out on political issues.

Cameron defended the substance of his coalition’s policies and their inspiration. “I have never been one to say that the Church has to fight shy of making political interventions,” Cameron told reporters during a visit to the North. “I don’t think it is right for people and our country if we give up on paying down our debts and just pass that down to our children. I don’t see anything good or even moral in that approach.”