A former Archbishop of Canterbury has accused Nigel Farage of using Christianity in the UK to incite “anti-Muslim feeling.”
Speaking to New Humanist Magazine, Rowan Williams, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury between 2002 and 2012, said there was an “inevitable scepticism these days about some claims to religious conviction”.
He continued: “I suspect really that Farage and others want to channel anti-Muslim feeling, and it helps to have ‘we’re a Christian society’ to fling back. It gives a sort of ballast.”
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Williams said that “anxiety about migration” and “anti-Islamism” were two factors helping drive Christian nationalism in the UK, pounced on by far-right figures such as Tommy Robinson.
Earlier this year, Farage was one of a several right-wing figures who criticised an iftar held in Trafalgar Square.
The Clacton MP said the religious fast-breaking event in London was an “attempt to overtake, intimidate and dominate our way of life”.
Farage later said he would ban mass Muslim prayer near historic British sites, and has repeatedly spoken of so-called ‘Judeo-Christian’ culture in speeches and posts on social media.
Addressing Farage’s decision in February to appoint Dr James Orr, an associate professor in the philosophy of religion at the University of Cambridge, as Reform’s head of policy, Williams questioned whether Farage was as interested in religion and Christianity as he’d like to have people believe.
“Although Nigel Farage thought it was worth getting a theologian on board for Reform UK, I don’t think he lies awake at night thinking about his soul,” he said
He added: “I may be doing the man an injustice, but I don’t believe he cares about profound theological questions.”
Williams also took aim at far-right racist and convicted criminal Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, who has claimed to have adopted Christianity during his time in jail.
Speaking about Robinson’s alleged new found faith, Williams said: “There’s an inevitable scepticism these days about some claims to religious conviction, and I don’t want to give way to this. If Tommy Robinson is doing his best to lead a life of Christian discipleship, I’m very glad, but I would really want to ask him some awkward questions.
“I would ask him how attempting to lead a life of Christian discipleship squares with public rhetoric designed to produce hostility and violence.”
Race-fuelled riots carried out by Robinson’s fan boys have often seen protestors use Christian iconography, something the previous Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby condemned in 2024 after the disgraceful Southport violence.