“Are we going to leave preaching basic morality to footballers?” Paul Dooling writes in the Letters pages this week. His isn’t the only voice of outrage at the government’s Illegal Migration Bill. “Cruelty without purpose” and “immoral and inept” suggests Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York. Roman Catholic bishops have been more circumspect. Their response to this crisis, a report released this week called “Love the Stranger”, provides a comprehensive and profound analysis of the moral issues raised by migration, as our editorial this week points out. With these principles in its back pocket, perhaps the Church will now bring its voice to the public debate to deplore the “othering” of refugees as if they were less than fully human. Cafod described yesterday’s budget in commendably sharp language as “unforgivable”, reports Patrick Hudson. There was no other word to describe spending an additional £11 billion on the military “when millions face famine in East Africa”.
Brendan Walsh
