The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has launched a remarkable attack on the coalition government, warning that it is committing the country to "radical, long-term policies for which no one voted." In a leading article in tomorrow's New Statesman, which he has guest-edited, Williams says that the "anxiety and anger" felt by voters is a result of the coalition's failure to expose its policies to "proper public argument". He writes: "Government badly needs to hear just how much plain fear there is around such questions at present."
Williams concedes that the government's "big society" agenda is not a "cynical walking-away from the problem". But he warns that there is confusion about how voluntary organisations will "pick up the responsibilities shed by government". Williams writes: "The uncomfortable truth is that, while grass-roots initiatives and local mutualism are to be found flourishing in a great many places, they have been weakened by several decades of cultural fragmentation." In an implicit criticism of the Chancellor, George Osborne, Williams adds: "It isn't enough to respond with what sounds like a mixture of, "This is the last government's legacy," and, "We'd like to do more, but just wait until the economy recovers a bit."
The Archbishop also calls into question the government's approach to welfare reform, complaining of a "quiet resurgence of the seductive language of "deserving" and "undeserving" poor". In comments directed at the Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, who has contributed to the issue, Williams criticises "the steady pressure" to increse "punitive responses to alleged abuses of the system".
The full version of Rowan Williams's leader appears in tomorrow's New Statesman.