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The government has been accused of “institutional bias” for failing to accord automatic nobility value to John Sentamu, the former Archbishop of York.
Sentamu’s successor, Stephen Cottrell, who was enthroned as the 98th Archbishop of York on Sunday, tweeted that he was “disturbed to discover today whether it was through negligence or intent my predecessor @Sentamu has not been given the nobility that has been the custom for many years. I trust this will be rectified soon ”.
David Lammy, the shadow justice minister, said on Twitter: “Number 10 broke a precedent and rejected Britain’s first black Archbishop for a title of nobility because he says the House of Lords is too big, but it made room for Ian Botham, the husband of Claire Fox and Theresa May. Blatant institutional prejudice “.
David Davis, former Conservative Cabinet Minister, tweeted: “Number 10 has made a mistake by not ennobled John Sentamu. He was a great archbishop. He cannot claim that he needs to limit the size of the Lords while raising Boris’s brother. It should be corrected immediately. “
Sentamu, 71, retired as Archbishop of York on June 7. Later that month he was told that he was in line for a peerage, but was informed in July that his name would not be included on Boris Johnson’s honor roll.
Among those who received titles of nobility were Jo Johnson, the prime minister’s brother; Claire Fox, former MEP of the Brexit party; and Charles Moore, former editor of the Daily Telegraph. None of the 36 people ennobled was from the black community. According to Operation Black Vote, only 12 of the 794 peers sitting on the Lords are of black descent.
Simon Woolley, founder of Operation Black Vote, told the Sunday Times: “John Sentamu is a hero and a role model not only for black Britain but also for Britain. The fact that he was not awarded a title of nobility is nothing short of scandalous. Given the deluge of nobles to friends and family, none of whom were black, I sincerely hope this is an oversight that is quickly corrected. “
Sentamu’s predecessor David Hope and former Canterbury Archbishops Rowan Williams and George Carey became partners for life when they resigned.
As archbishop, Sentamu was one of the 26 spiritual lords, places reserved in the upper house of parliament for the bishops of the Church of England. Andrew Adonis, the fellow Labor, tweeted: “He [Sentamu] he was one of its most distinguished members and one of its few black members. “
According to a government spokesman, Sentamu was left off the list to keep numbers low in the House of Lords.
Cottrell was enthroned as archbishop at a service at York Minster on Sunday. He told the congregation that his job was “to guide the church in the very unique challenges of our day, where our world cries out for ways of inhabiting life that unite us rather than separate us.”
Among the “horrors that surround us” were the Covid pandemic, the “dangerous scourges of racism” and the environmental challenge, “where we run the risk of separating from our own planet.”
He said he was determined to lead the change to make the C of E a “safe place”, following the recent damning report from the independent investigation into child sexual abuse. The C of E should let go of “much of our pomposity, privilege, position and power” to become a “simpler and more humble church,” he said.
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