A former archbishop of Canterbury has accused Nigel Farage of asserting the UK’s Christianity as a way to “channel anti-Muslim feeling”.
Rowan Williams, who was the Church of England’s leading bishop for 10 years until 2012, also said he would like to ask “some awkward questions” of activist Tommy Robinson, who declares himself a Christian. In an interview for the New Humanist magazine, Mr Williams acknowledged there is an “inevitable scepticism these days about some claims to religious conviction”.
The former archbishop said: “I suspect really that (Nigel) Farage and others want to channel anti-Muslim feeling, and it helps to have ‘we’re a Christian society’ to fling back. It gives a sort of ballast.”
At Easter, Reform UK leader Mr Farage made a post online stating: “The Christian values on which our country is built are something to be proud of.” He had, in 2024, prompted criticism after suggesting there were “a growing number of young people in this country who do not subscribe to British values, in fact loathe much of what we stand for”, confirming when asked that he was referring to Muslims.
Earlier this year, Mr Farage criticised an Iftar in Trafalgar Square, saying the religious fast-breaking event in London was an “attempt to overtake, intimidate and dominate our way of life”.
In the magazine interview, published this week, Mr Williams was asked what he thought was driving Christian nationalism in the UK. He said: “There are lots of possible causes. Anxiety about migration; anti-Islamism.
“In France that anxiety has a secular aspect, but the St George’s Cross still means something in the English imagination, which still has a Christian aspect.
“The second thing is the globalising of all political discourse. The message given at international Christian conservative gatherings is that self-respecting nationalist movements need a bit of theology injected into them.
“Ironically, for someone like Nigel Farage, it’s about trying to find a presentational strategy that allows him to be taken seriously outside England. He’s often not here, after all.”
Last year, Reform UK announced the appointment of theologian James Orr – an academic who has influenced Donald Trump’s US administration – as a senior adviser to Mr Farage.
Mr Williams: “Although Nigel Farage thought it was worth getting a theologian on board for Reform UK, I don’t think he lies awake at night thinking about his soul.
“I may be doing the man an injustice, but I don’t believe he cares about profound theological questions.”
Reform UK has been contacted in relation to the comments.
Mr Williams also suggested that while he would be “very glad” if “Tommy Robinson is doing his best to lead a life of Christian discipleship”, he would want to pose “some awkward questions” to him. He said: “I would ask him how attempting to lead a life of Christian discipleship squares with public rhetoric designed to produce hostility and violence.”
Mr Robinson has spoken about doing Bible studies while in jail and has said he is now a Christian, having grown up Catholic but not practised.
In December he led a carol concert to “put the Christ back into Christmas” and his Unite the Kingdom march in London earlier this year saw some participants carry wooden crosses and chant “Christ is king”.
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