Boris Johnson has accused the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby of having “misconstrued” the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Sources close to the prime minister said he accused the senior clergyman of being “less vociferous” in his condemnation of Vladimir Putin than he was in his attack on the policy – which will potentially see thousands of asylum seekers deemed to have arrived in the UK “illegally” sent to Rwanda.
Mr Johnson appeared before Tory MPs on Tuesday evening after apologising in the House of Commons for breaking lockdown rules.
He received loud cheers and banging on the tables from the largely supportive parliamentary party at the meeting of backbenchers, where he spoke for around 40 minutes.
After defending himself over Partygate, Mr Johnson went on to hit out at “senior members of the clergy” and the BBC over criticism of the plan to send migrants to Rwanda, following condemnation by the Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops.
Mr Welby raised “serious ethical questions” about the policy in his Easter Sunday address and said it cannot “stand the judgment of God”.
Archbishop Welby criticised the policy in his Easter sermon
In the sermon, the archbishop said “sub-contracting out our responsibilities, even to a country that seeks to do well, like Rwanda, is the opposite of the nature of God who himself took responsibility for our failures”.
The Rwanda policy also drew criticism on Tuesday from former prime minister Theresa May, who questioned its legality and effectiveness.
Addressing home secretary Priti Patel in the House of Commons on Tuesday, she said: “If it is the case that families will not be broken up, where is her evidence that this will not simply lead to an increase in the trafficking of women and children?”
Ms Patel insisted the deal complied with international laws and was part of wider efforts to combat people smuggling. But she refused to give parliament more details of eligibility requirements, offering to meet Ms May instead.
