Church debates BNP ban for clergy

The synod supported the proposal two years ago

The Church of England is to debate draft legislation banning clergy from joining or supporting the British National Party.

The law would make it "unbecoming" or "inappropriate" for clergy to be members of parties whose race equality policies were at odds with the Church. The ban was backed two years ago by the General Synod, the Church's national assembly. Reverend Robert West, a BNP member from Lincolnshire, said he did not believe the ban would be legal.

It was proposed by a lay synod member who works for the police. In 2009 the Synod voted overwhelmingly in favour of the measures proposed by Vasantha Gnanadoss. At the time she said a membership ban would send a clear message against racial prejudice to the public at large.

The Church meeting, in London, will also be addressed by the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu and will debate new proposals for the setting of fees for weddings and funerals.

The BNP campaigns for the voluntary repatriation of immigrants but says it is not racist. It described the vote in 2009 as a "vindictive" move against a legitimate political party.

BBC

Church of England tells clergy not to invite BNP candidates to hustings

British National Party candidates should not be invited to election hustings in church halls, the Church of England has told clergy.

Vicars have also been warned to avoid talking to members of the far-right party or being caught photographed with them, in case the images are used in their campaign leaflets. The Church fears the BNP, which won two seats in the European Parliament last year, is trying to shrug off its extremist image by portraying itself as a “guardian of British Christian heritage”.

In response, the Archbishops’ Council has issued detailed guidance on how clergy should deal with “far right political parties, extremist groups and racist politics”. It comes after the Church’s governing body, the General Synod, voted a year ago to ban clergy and lay workers from joining organisations that “contradict the duty to promote race equality”.

The Rev Dr Malcolm Brown, Director of Mission and Public Affairs, said: “The note is advisory and seeks to enable church leaders to discern an appropriate course of action within areas where community relations are often fragile or fragmented. Our faith calls us to develop and sustain the hope and vision that things can be different.”

The guidance, first published in 2007 but now expanded ahead of the general election and council polls in May, tells clergy that they do not have to invite BNP candidates for election hustings held in church halls as long as the other parties’ representatives declare the fact.

It states: “Churches are under no legal obligation to include the BNP in election hustings meetings, or give space to such parties for public meetings, if they consider this ‘association’ could have detrimental affect on their reputation and activities (as charities).

“If candidates participate in an event that does not include all candidates in a constituency they need to declare this on their election returns."

The document says that if BNP candidates are elected to a local authority, priests in the area should not contact them personally and refuse any requests to hire church halls.

It says: “Church leaders need to take care when attending functions at which councillors from far-right parties may be present (not least such events as Remembrance Day services). For example: photographs of conversations can be used to imply church support for such councillors and their policies.

“It is not advisable to meet groups promoting racist policies as this gives them credibility and publicity. It is advisable not to give them a platform in churches or church buildings, as this can be used to suggest support for their policies (even by implication).”

However it adds that public sector staff have no choice who they work with and “need your prayers”.

The guidance advises clergy on how to deal with a new wave of protests by the English Defence League, which organises marches against radical Islam but which is accused of hostility to all Muslims. Its events, often attended by football hooligans, have descended into race riots.

It says: “Direct confrontation is inadvisable. Church leaders need to coordinate with police and other community leaders (particularly those being targeted) when a local demonstration is advertised. A prayer vigil followed by the advice to avoid the location of the demonstration has enabled the damage of potentially incendiary situations to be limited.”

Telegraph

Leaders' united fight against BNP

Faith, community and business leaders have gathered in Manchester to show a united front against the British National Party (BNP).

The Manchester Diocese of the Church of England held a signing of a pledge to fight the BNP at Manchester Cathedral. The faith leaders are urging people not to vote for the party at the Euro elections on 4 June. BNP leader Nick Griffin is standing in the North West.

The BNP described the pledge as "bullying, intimidation and blackmail".

The giant pledge read: "We oppose the racist and fascist BNP who stand to undermine 'our' Manchester."

Figures include the Bishop of Bolton, the Bishop of Middleton and the only black dean of a UK cathedral, Rodgers Govender, Dean of Manchester Cathedral. The faith leaders said: "As leaders of Greater Manchester Faith Communities, we want to express our support for the local religious leaders. Alongside them, we express our concern at the racist history and policies of the British National Party, which is fielding a candidate. We say 'no' to the BNP's view of the world."

Others signatures are from Greater Manchester's Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities groups.

Simon Darby, deputy leader of the BNP said the action was "wholly disgusting and unnecessary." He added: "This is bullying, intimidation and blackmail. If people have made up their mind to vote for us, they will do. It is not for the church to tell people who they can and can't vote for. They are throwing themselves at at the altar of political correctness."

BBC

Clergy banned from BNP membership

"Dammit, now I'll never be the Bishop of Welshpool..."

The Church of England voted today in favour of banning clergy and some lay staff from joining the far-right British National Party

Members of the General Synod voted to back a motion brought by Metropolitan Police civilian worker Vasantha Gnanadoss calling on bishops to formulate a comparable policy to the Association of Chief Police Officers' ban on police membership of the BNP.

Miss Gnanadoss, who received support at the General Synod from former Met Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair, said passing the motion would make it "much more difficult" for the BNP or other similar organisations to exploit the claim that they had support within the Church of England.

She said: "If supporting organisations like the BNP is inconsistent with Christian discipleship, it seems obvious that clergy and others who speak for the Church should not be members."

Acpo policy states that that no member of the police service may be a member of an organisation whose constitution, aims, objectives or pronouncements contradict the "general duty" to promote race equality. This specifically includes the BNP, the policy states.

The motion backed today by the General Synod called for the Church of England bishops to draw up a similar policy to apply to all clergy, ordinands and employed lay persons who speak on behalf of the Church of England. The motion received support from the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu and the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams.

Dr Sentamu told the Synod he was a member of the Baganda tribe. But he said: "As a Christian, I joined another tribe, it is the tribe of Jesus Christ, and in that tribe all are welcome."

The vote from the General Synod comes in spite of a warning in a background paper prepared by William Fittall, secretary general of the General Synod, warning of possible legal difficulties. He said clergy could not currently be disciplined for lawful political activity and the BNP was not a proscribed political party. He also warned that the Church could be open to discrimination claims under such a policy.

Those backing the motion included the Rt Rev Nicholas Reade, Bishop of Blackburn. He said it was "timely" in view of the recession.

He said: "In these difficult economic times there are those who could be tempted to look for solutions among extreme political parties and we need to underline that the politics of hatred can never come up with a solution to our problems."

He added: "The religion of the incarnation cannot support in any shape or form racist policies and those who exercise the representative ministry cannot be members of racist parties or organisations for it is just not possible to be racist and speak in the name of Jesus Christ."

Independent

Church of England General Synod to consider BNP membership ban

The Church of England General Synod will today consider a motion that would ban its clergy and lay staff, from being members of the British National Party (BNP).

The motion points to the policy used by the Association of Chief Police Officers, which prevents police officers from becoming members of the BNP or other organisations whose aims contradict the duty to promote race equality. The BNP campaigns controversially for the voluntary repatriation of immigrants and for the interests of the “indigenous” people of Britain. The party is often charged with being extreme and racist, a charge its leader Nick Griffin denies.

The motion has been put forward by Vasantha Gnanadoss, who works for the Metropolitan police. She claims the motion is needed to prevent parties like the BNP associating themselves with the Church. A ban on membership would also send a clear message against racial prejudice, she claims.

Until now there have been no rules banning membership of any political party for clergy, although in the past Church of England leaders have encouraged voters to stay away from the BNP during elections. The Church of England has also previously passed a resolution against the “sin of racial prejudice”.

Last year, a list of 12,000 BNP members was leaked to the public, which included five members of the Church of England clergy. The Church noted at the time that none of them were serving Anglican priests.

Speaking to the BBC, Canon Ivor Smith Cameron, former chaplain to the Queen, said that "very, very few" members of the clergy had joined the BNP. He said that he supported the current proposal for a ban on membership, saying, "One of the reasons for my existence as a clergyman is to preserve racial and community harmony and the work of the BNP clearly does not do that. Furthermore, in its websites, its blogs ... it is proclaiming itself to be a Christian organisation and I resent that deeply."

Alison Ruoff, a lay member of the Synod, said such a ban was wrong in a “free country”.

"I think it's totally over the top, totally unnecessary. I want to trust clergy. The more you say, 'Thou shalt not,' the more people want to," she said. "And of course, even if you don't join it, anybody, but anybody, including clergy, can vote BNP without anybody knowing."

The Church of England General Synod got underway on Monday at Church House, Westminster, with an address from the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, on the prospects for communion between the two Churches.

In his first and almost certainly last address to Synod before his retirement, the Cardinal said the Anglican and Catholic Churches needed to continue working towards the goal of full communion "even if it still seems so distant". He went on to express his regret over challenges to unity among Anglicans.

"Divisions within any church or eccclesial community impoverish the communion of the whole Church. We Roman Catholics cannot be indifferent to what is happening to our friends in the Anglican Communion and, in particular, in the Church of England,” he said.

In the coming days, Synod will debate the uniqueness of Christ, a draft Covenant to mend rifts in the Anglican Communion, human trafficking, the impact of the financial crisis, and the damaging effect of rising water bills on many parishes.

Christian Today

Bishops to oppose proposed ban on clergy being members of the BNP

Church of England clergy could be barred from membership of the far-right British National Party under a controversial motion to be debated this week, The Times has learnt.

The move, which coincides with intense public debate over race and equality, is backed by Sir Ian Blair, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, who will attend the General Synod to support a policy borrowed from the Association of Chief Police Officers, which bans officers from joining the BNP.

In his first interview since leaving Scotland Yard, Sir Ian said that his Anglican faith had been a great comfort and support during difficult times as the country’s most senior policeman. “I used to say to my wife, if I did not have my hour and a half on a Sunday morning, the week was going to be much more difficult,” Sir Ian said.

He saw a parallel, he said, between the Church and the police in that both “need to be able to welcome people from all backgrounds”. He added: “The issue around race is about equality. I am on that wing of the Anglican Communion that is very much in favour of women priests.”

Sir Ian will sit at the Synod with the proposer of the motion, which states that clergy and lay staff of the Church cannot belong to any organisation which contradicts “the duty to promote race equality”. The motion specifically identifies the BNP.

It is likely to rekindle the dispute over racism, and what defines public and privately held views, less than a week after the BBC dropped Carol Thatcher from one of its programmes for using the word “golliwog” in an off-air conversation.

However, the motion will be opposed at the Synod by bishops and lawyers who will argue that banning individuals from membership of political organisations would infringe their human rights.

William Fittall, Secretary General to the Synod, has circulated a paper which states that the Church’s legal advice was that the policy could not be enforced.

He wrote: “Since the BNP is not a proscribed political party, it is lawful to be a member. Merely being a member of it could not, therefore, provide a basis for disciplinary proceedings against a member of the clergy.”

Mr Fittall added: “Cases outside the Church concerning the BNP have seen employees bringing claims against their employers arguing that their less favourable treatment is an interference with their human rights.”

Vasantha Gnanadoss, the proposer of the motion and a civilian member of staff with the Metropolitan Police, argues that the policy should be adopted to “carry a clear message to society at large”.

She said: “It will make it much more difficult for the BNP or similar organisations to exploit the claim that there are Anglican clergy or church representatives who support them.”

Simon Darby, deputy leader of the BNP, said: “It is not a very Christian thing to do to say that because you belong to a political party you cannot work for the Church of England.”

The BNP debate is one of a number which are likely to prove divisive at the Synod. Traditionalists are expected to resist plans to create “complementary” bishops who would look after opponents of women’s ordination if women are consecrated bishops. However many parliamentarians and the thousands of women priests that the Church now depends on to sustain its ministry, along with their male supporters, will also be dismayed if Synod members turn their back on women bishops. Proposals to ordain women bishops depend on thenew class of bishop being accepted.

Anglo-Catholics are expected to resist the idea because the complementary bishops will ultimately be answerable to women bishops.

A two-thirds majority will be needed when the final vote on women bishops takes place three or four years from now, after dioceses and parishes have been consulted. Wednesday’s debate on complementary bishops will require only a simple majority but will signal whether the final measure will go through as traditionalists marshall their forces once more against women’s ordination.

Some bishops fear a re-run of the 1992 vote on women priests, when just one change of mind by an opponent of women priests secured the two-thirds majority that let the measure through.

In a third debate likely to set traditionalists against the liberal wing of the Church, the Synod will be asked by an evangelical lay member, Paul Eddy, to affirm the “uniqueness of Christ” in a multi-faith society. This motion, if passed, would implicitly confer a duty on Church of England clergy and laity to proselytise Muslims, Jews and other minority faiths.

Times Online

Church asked to ban BNP members

The Church of England is to be asked to ban clergy from joining the British National Party (BNP).

The general synod - the Church's parliament - will be urged to adopt a similar policy to other bodies which forbid BNP membership, like the police.

The move comes after the leaked publication of the names of 12,000 BNP members in November. The list contained five "Reverends" but the Church said none was a licensed or serving clergy member.

The Association of Chief Police Officers policy states that no member of the police service may be a member of an organisation whose constitution, aims or objectives contradict the general duty to promote equality. It specifically mentions the BNP as one such organisation.

At the meeting of the synod next month one of its members, Vasantha Gnanadoss - who works for the Metropolitan Police - will submit a private members motion calling for a similar policy to apply to all clergy, candidates for ordination and lay persons speaking on behalf of the Church.

She said the policy would make it more difficult for organisations like the BNP to exploit the claim that there are members of the Anglican clergy that support them.

"Of specific relevance to this motion are some of the tactics adopted by the BNP, which in recent years has sought to identify itself as Christian and sometimes specifically with the Church of England, in order to further its agenda," she said.

William Fittall, secretary general of the general synod, said it was already Church of England policy that people should not enter ordained ministry if they held racist views. He added, however, that it would be harder for the Church to enact a formal policy aimed at the BNP.

"Not long ago the synod passed the Clergy Discipline Measure, which specifically said you could not discipline a member of the clergy for political views or membership of a political party," he said.

A BNP spokesman said the party was aware of the efforts of Ms Gnanadoss and denied it was racist.

"There are members of the general synod who are sympathetic towards us," he said. "This is a disgraceful way to politicise the Church. The Church has got far more important things we feel to worry about... rather than a vindictive campaign against a perfectly legitimate political party".

BBC