Dear Bishop

An open letter to the Bishop of Guildford

Dear Bishop,

I write concerning the letter that you and sixteen fellow bishops had published in the Observer today.

It condemns, rather high-handedly in my opinion, the coalition government's Welfare Reform Bill, which would limit the amount any household might claim in state benefits to £500 per week (a figure that you omit from your letter). According to Wikipedia, this is some 65% above median UK household income.

This seems to be the latest in a series of pronouncements from senior Church of England clergy condemning the government's policy of bringing public spending under control after a decade in which it has grown sharply.

You invoke the church directly, and speak of a moral compulsion. Since I profoundly disagree with you, I wonder if my economic and political views are nowadays compatible with church membership. Perhaps you could let me know whether, in your opinion, the following views conflict with Christianity:

1. that welfare benefits should not be on a ratchet drive, only ever increasing, whatever the country's circumstances;
2. that above a certain level, spending on welfare will reduce incentives to work harder, or at all, diminishing the nation's total wealth, with the poor inevitably hardest hit;
3. that paying people who do not work more than the majority of people that do, is morally wrong;
4. That any family can live reasonably on £26,000 a year.

In the event that these views are not wholly incompatible with Christianity, I would ask you to consider that the barrage of political interventions by the bishops might alienate a large number of natural Anglicans. If you are comfortable with that, perhaps you might recommend a denomination in which people like me would feel more welcome.

I have published this letter on my blog; with your permission, I will also publish any reply.

Yours sincerely,

Neil McEvoy

Pyrford, Surrey