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New blow for Brown as bishop hits out at cult of financial boom
Nicholas Cecil, Chief Political Correspondent29 Dec 2008
GORDON Brown suffered a fresh blow today after the Bishop of London warned that people were wrong to have "invested their hopes" in never-ending economic growth.
As the country faces a painful and deep recession, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres said "hope" was the most urgent need for many communities and individuals.
However, in comments which will be seen as criticism of the Prime Minister's claim to have ended boom and bust with a decade of economic growth, he added: "We are in the midst of a crisis of confidence partly because we have invested our hopes in a project which was bound to disappoint - the project of growth without limit without any end in view."
Aides said the bishop was not seeking to apportion blame for the recession but he has warned that many people have become "addicted to borrowing".
After visiting the City earlier this year, he said: "We have been persuaded to believe it is possible to borrow our way into prosperity without self-discipline and sacrifice.
"Our addiction to borrowing has become inordinate and the deluge of communications from banks and others seeking to persuade us to take out fresh loans has contributed not a little to the crisis.
"It is becoming clearer how far we have been mortgaging our children's tomorrow to fund our today, both financially and in our use of the finite resources of the earth."
The Government is facing a salvo of criticism from the Church of England.
The bishops of Durham, Winchester, Manchester, Carlisle and Hulme yesterday delivered a scathing assessment of Labour's record in power, warning that the country was suffering from family breakdown, an addiction to debt and a growing gap between rich and poor.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has described Mr Brown's plans to tackle recession by spending more as like an "addict returning to the drug".
The Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch, the Bishop of Manchester, accused Labour of acting in a "morally corrupt" way by encouraging greed and people to get further into debt.
The Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, Bishop of Hulme, added: "That is morally suspect."
The Rt Rev Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham, berated ministers for not doing enough to help the poor. "Labour made a lot of promises, but a lot of them have vanished into thin air," he said.
The Rt Rev Graham Dow, Bishop of Carlisle, and the Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, Bishop of Winchester, said Labour was struggling to balance conscience with desire to win the next election. "I agree with the Conservatives that the breakdown of the family is a crucial element in the difficulties of our present society," said Bishop Dow.
Labour MP John McFall, chairman of the Commons Treasury committee, said the bishops may have had "too much mulled wine" but added: "It's important to look at this with a moral dimensionand to ensure we bring back some of the responsibility that was evident many years ago when people had to save up for things."
Reader views (30)
Unlike the Queen who had to read of the "it came from the USA" Crash Gordon textbook, at least the Church can speak the truth and put blame especially with the Nu Labor culture of "you can have everything if you borrow and then the state will grab taxes". Good on the Church!!
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 30/12/2008 09:36
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I always thought that the church was the Tory party at prayer,however, they seem to be speaking common sense at last.
- John, benidorm,spain, 30/12/2008 08:12
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Perhaps if these characters had presided over a successful growing church instead of the declinng failure it is,more people would take them seriously. Before having the termerity to critisise others they should look at theit own insulated and subsidised lives
and practise what they preach.
- C Gurkin, Polegate. UK, 30/12/2008 03:16
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There are a number of reasons why the world-wide economy has fallen into this dangerous recession and debt and an asset bubble are high up there but now we suffer from a crisis of confidence and all comsumers are savers not spenders thus the economic downturn worsens. To see this and the Keynsian solution proposed by Mr Brown (i am no labour supporter btw) in moralistic terms is spectacularly opportunistic behaviour by doyens of the established church who have watched their congregations thin because of their own weaknesses. Moralistic views were taken in the 1930s and made that recession into a depression. This is NOT an issue of morals, it is an issue of employment and confidence. It is an issue of economic cycles and nothing I repeat, nothing to do with a moral dynamic of greed and retribution.
It is also spectacularly naive of them to think that politicians of whatever hue will not have their revenge in due course on the established church exploiting an economic disaster for their own purposes. Make your church more relevant to everyday people and stop lecturing us on economics.
- Chris, UK, 30/12/2008 02:48
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the bishops and the people are right this incompetant lot called nu labour have destoyed all credability we ever had in government, just like in 1979 when they had spent all our money and had to go to the imf, they do it again, kick them out, and soon
- Paul Connolly, hers, 29/12/2008 23:44
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What a bunch of shallow, hypocrites, perhaps they should use some of the £6billion invested in the financial markets to ease he suffering of the poor and sick in this country. That IS what they are supposed to do isn't it? If they can't do that, then go away and shut up because nobody cares what you say, your congregations are almost non existent.
- Beyondtheuk, Enfield, London, 29/12/2008 19:38
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why does anyone care what these delusional nitwits think? After all they believe in fairy stories, propagate cults and hoard wealth for their "Church"
It is just noise from the deluded and gives propaganda to the vile Tory bloggers who will use any opportunity to defame opponents.
- Kerry Trubee, purley, 29/12/2008 19:36
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Perhaps John McFall might consider that the wine flows too freely in the aptly named Palace of Westminster, for labour to consider such trivia as the welfare of UK workers. It appears that the Church is the last bastion of hope for those harmed by this evil and incompetent Government.
- Brian Edmonds, Farnham UK, 29/12/2008 18:32
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"Prudent Gordon inherited a stable and rising economy from the Conservatives in 1997 !!!"
No, that was Tony Blair, actually.
- Keith Price, Luton, England, 29/12/2008 18:26
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A reasonably fair point raised by the Bishops, i'm glad to see at least someone dare speak out against the ever growing PR machine that Brown has called the BBC.
- Ellie, LONDON, 29/12/2008 18:03
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Regardless if they believe in God or not they have made a fair and just assessment of the current social and economic climate. It's simply called telling the truth.
- Pete M, London, 29/12/2008 17:36
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I wonder if the various faith groups will for go there free hand outs of tax payers money they receive in grants from the government every year?
- Kev, London-UK, 29/12/2008 17:30
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Prudent Gordon inherited a stable and rising economy from the Conservatives in 1997 after four years of real growth. He followed conservative policy for three years, years of real growth. Then he started overspending to win Labour a second term it was still just about real growth. Then in 2002 it got harder, growth stopped and Gordon pushed the economy to spend more and more. He encouraged the bank of England to push interest rates dangerously low and inflated government spending. From 2003 onwards its all been built on a mountain of mad debt. The Treasury and Bank of England have said they all Knew and so did Gordon.
The Bishops are right "If the wages of Sin are debt then they need to be repaid"
- Bill G, Slough, 29/12/2008 17:06
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A good article andI agree entirely with the clerics. I went into several department stores today - invariably pop noise (music) blaring out in all of them. THe experience was truly awful.Why ? Is this all part of the "parting with money whilst out shopping is fun" and the marketeers dictate that we must all behave as though we are all participating in yuf culture these days. It's just a circus and this borrowing/debt ethos is absurd.
- Raymond, London, 29/12/2008 16:54
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Well at least we don't have to hand over a 3rd of are wages in tithes to the likes of him any more,then maybe that's the reason hes concerned,maybe its just plain old jealousy.
- Kev, London-UK, 29/12/2008 16:45
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Who realy cares what a group of believers in a god think.
- Kev, London, 29/12/2008 15:38
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No Comment about how good or bad Nu Labour is, but:-
Jimbob of Kensington, "Even God hates NuLabour" I love it
- Col, West London, 29/12/2008 15:19
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The reason New Labour are in office is because the people put them there. If the people are unhappy with what the politicians they elected are doing, then make it clear by all means available to demand they stand down and call another election.
But the people do not do this. They sit back and do very little allowing politicians, who themselves are in the back pocket of big business, to exercise a free reign with their money, their hopes and aspiratiions because of some insane notion that politicians know best.
So our esteemed clerics can with some justification point the accusing finger at our elected leaders for their part in the collapse of moral and ethical standardss. But how about the flock who put them there eh ? As clerics like to highlight free will et al, do the flock not have the choice to say what they want, or perhaps New Labour are in fact representative of the standards the flock aspire to ?
The truth may be rather closer to the adage that people get what they deserve, however tragic a denouement this may be.
- John Bloomfield, Twickenham, 29/12/2008 15:16
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Hardly a blow for Brown. More like hot air from some minor church leaders. I thought their job was with salvation. They should leave the brave political decisions on the economy to the brave Labour leaders who have the full responsibility for taking them.
- Keith Price, Luton, England, 29/12/2008 15:10
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A bit late Chartres but welcome all the same. The good bit about the Bishops getting it right is showing how inane the response has been from this bunch of free loading,self serving idiots in the House of Commons. They still do not get the fact that they have destroyed our country which is now the laughing stock of the world. The mighty pound is worth little. Our army is humiliated in Iraq & should never have been there in the first place. The Queen is obviously fed up with her ministers .Back these Bishops up you Tories they have got more bottle and common sense than you.
- Mordwinoff, Lisle France, 29/12/2008 14:54
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The bisdops are right. The prosperity of this nation was built by generations of hard working people who did not have access to unsustainable loans. This generation has squandered it all and can blame no-one but themselves. Our political parties have stood aside and watched it happen. It will take years of belt tightening to save the UK now. Lets hope we have the guts and the leadership to do it.
- Norcot, Oakham UK, 29/12/2008 14:47
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Typical moralistic rubbish from yet another senior member of the church who lives very comfortably, surrounded by countless aides and without any fear of losing his job. Church leaders are very priviledged and very lucky. They should just enjoy their easy life and simply stick to their job which is to pray and save the rest of us from untold calamities. I doubt they can do anything else well.
- Daniel, London, 29/12/2008 14:44
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no more boom and bust, you can not spend your way out of recession,gordon browns words,he will be printing money next,lunatics are running the asylum.
- Bob Sinclair, glasgow uk, 29/12/2008 14:29
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One outdated institution with little grasp of reality struggling to find an identity, critising another and all to no effect. Welcome to the U.K.
- Sandy, London, 29/12/2008 14:19
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It was about time the Church said what the British public wants: expose the what Crash Gordon is!
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 29/12/2008 12:21
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Labour MP John Mcfall retorts "the Bishops have had too much mulled-wine"
How very used we are to hearing crass comments like this from our political rulers. Lets not address the issues lets rubbish the author.
I cannot wait for this bunch of crooks and shysters to be thrown out of office----meanwhile it is damage limitation time ---best of luck UK--you will need it!
- Brian Hunwicks, Spain, 29/12/2008 12:17
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I'd have a lot more respect for the CofE and the Church of Rome if they transferred all of their riches to the poor (the eye of the needle and all that)-but pigs might fly.
- Alan, London, 29/12/2008 11:12
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The Bishop of London is right, but his pronouncement is a criticism of all of us - not just the government - for behaving as if the good times were going to last forever. Where we can criticise the government, and most of the opposition too, is for missing or ignoring the warning signs that weren´t obvious to the rest of us. After all, that´s their job. Since Gordon Brown has always presented himself to the electorate as a major economic talent, he must accept a very large share of the blame for this negligence.
- Peter, Madrid, Spain, 29/12/2008 10:52
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Normal service has resumed.
- Colin, barking essex, 29/12/2008 10:19
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There you have it. Even God hates NuLabour.
- Jimbob, Kensington, 29/12/2008 10:19
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