Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby lectures MP for complaining about him ‘preaching from the pulpit’ as he trolls the Tories AGAIN over £140m Rwanda deportation policy for Channel migrants

• Justin Welby targeted Jonathan Gullis over criticism of bishops this week 
• Stoke  MP said there were ‘too many people using the pulpit to preach from’
• Archbishop: ‘Look forward to advice on what we should be doing in the pulpit’ 

The Archbishop of Canterbury has publicly mocked a Tory politician who criticised the church for opposing its Rwanda deportation scheme.

Justin Welby targeted Jonathan Gullis after the Stoke-on-Trent MP said there were ‘too many people using the pulpit to preach from’ about politics.

Welby, the most senior figure in the Anglican Church, has been a vocal critic of the £140million plan to deport Channel migrants to East Africa.

This year he has clashing with Boris Johnson and Priti Patel and their successors Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman over the scheme, which was declared lawful by the High Court this week.

After Ms Gullis’s comments he replied with a bone-dry lecture on Twitter writing: ‘Always grateful for feedback – look forward to advice on what we should be doing in the pulpit. (Just to confirm: we’ll be continuing to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.)’

Welby, the most senior figure in the Anglican Church, has been a vocal critic of the £140million plan to deport Channel migrants to East Africa.

Justin Welby targeted Jonathan Gullis (above) after the Stoke-on-Trent MP said there were ‘too many people using the pulpit to preach from’ about politics.

Mr Gullis, 32, was briefly minister for school standards under Liz Truss earlier this year. He recently tabled new legislation that would force the PM to ‘explicitly ignore’ the court and prevent it ‘meddling in our sovereignty’, particularly amid the Channel crisis.

His Asylum Seekers (Removal to Safe Countries) Bill was backed by Boris Johnson and several of his former ministers including Priti Patel, Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg.

However the 10-minute rule motion – a Parliamentary procedure that allows backbench MPs to put forward their own laws – was voted down by MPs by 188 to 69, meaning it will not pass any further.

After the High Court ruling in favour of the Rwanda policy on Monday he told the BBC: ‘I don’t think unelected bishops in the House of Lords should be preaching about politics.

‘I think they should be looking in-house at the wide abuse claims, and the Archbishop of Canterbury should be spending his time focusing on the Church’s reputation.

‘I sadly think that there are too many people using the pulpit to preach from, and actually I think they’re out of touch with the overall majority of this great country.’

His comments were criticised by people who pointed out that pulpits are specifically designed for preaching from.  

The Home Secretary has defiantly vowed to start sending people to East Africa under a £140million programme Rwanda ‘as soon as possible’ after a ruling in favour of the Government and against charity campaigners.

Two judges rejected arguments that the proposal to provide one-way tickets to the east African nation were unlawful, but ruled that the cases against eight individual asylum seekers were not ‘properly considered’ and should be reexamined.

It paves the way for flights to East Africa to finally begin, with lawyers and charities urged by MPs to accept the ruling and cease legal efforts to stymie them.

The Archbishop of Canterbury launched another broadside at the government over its ‘cruel’ immigration policy earlier this month as he blasted ‘harmful rhetoric’ against Channel boat people. 

He used a House of Lords speech to rebuke the Government over its treatment of migrants and asylum seekers.

He offered stinging criticism of Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman as he warned against ‘harmful rhetoric’ that treats those arriving in the UK as ‘invaders’.

The Archbishop also hit out at the Government’s controversial plan to deport migrants to Rwanda for processing, arguing the stalled scheme is destined to be a ‘failure’.

He previously hit the headlines at Easter when he attacked Boris Johnson and Priti Patel’s £120million scheme to send arrivals to east Africa.

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