The Bishop of Durham has criticised the Labour Government for forcing God from political life and warned that the public has been left “in a sea of amoralism”.
During an interview with The Times newspaper Dr Tom Wright, the fourth most senior prelate in the Church of England, warned that the Prime Minister had become akin to an “absolute monarch” with little or no accountability.
The Bishop made the comments ahead of a public lecture at the Church of England’s General Synod in which he will call for God to be included in political life.
The Bishop went on to criticise Labour’s track record on issues such as assisted suicide and equality legislation.
Dr Wright also criticised recent constitutional reforms by Labour, such as the abolition of the office of Lord Chancellor, claiming that the change had been made “on a wing and a prayer”.
He said: “Our present political class are probably the last people to be making decisions about a constitution and the last to be pronouncing on the place of God in politics and government.”
He added: “We are supposed to have a democracy where we have a system of checks and balances developed over a long period which have got very deep roots.”
The Bishop also said that Western society has embraced an unstable foundation.
He said: “We have lived as a Western society by a particular set of stories which are substantially Enlightenment stories, about science solving all our ills. The Enlightenment kicked God upstairs like the elderly relative in the attic”.
This is not the first time a senior Anglican Bishop has spoken out about the current political climate.
Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, has said: “The role of church and religious leaders is one of warning their congregations to wake up and take responsibility to choose their political leaders”.
Last July Bishop Michael Nazir Ali said that the turmoil created by the MPs’ expenses scandal came about because of the loss of a moral “touchstone”.
He said: “No wonder everyone has been doing what is right in his own eyes and to their own advantage”.
Similarly, the financial crisis can be traced to an “entrepreneurial free-for-all and winner takes all tradition” which has replaced Christian values of “responsibility, honesty, trust and hard work”, the Bishop said.