By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-08-20 01:55:50 | Updated at 2026-08-20 02:05:08
14 minutes ago
A former Archbishop of Canterbury has accused Nigel Farage of using Christianity to "channel anti-Muslim feeling".
Rowan Williams, who served as the Church of England’s leading bishop from 2002 until 2012, claimed there was an "inevitable scepticism these days about some claims to religious conviction".
"I suspect really that (Nigel) 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," Lord Williams told the New Humanist magazine.
During the interview, Mr Williams said that growing "Christian nationalism" within Britain could be attributed to "anxiety about migration" and "anti-Islamism".
He continued: “In France that anxiety has a secular aspect, but the St George’s Cross still means something in the English imagination, which still has a Christian aspect.
“The second thing is the globalising of all political discourse.
"The message given at international Christian conservative gatherings is that self-respecting nationalist movements need a bit of theology injected into them.
The former Church chief also parroted attack lines on the Reform leader from his left-wing critics.
“Ironically, for someone like Nigel Farage, it’s about trying to find a presentational strategy that allows him to be taken seriously outside England. He’s often not here, after all," Lord Williams sneered.
Rowan Williams said he believes Mr Farage and others 'want to channel anti-Muslim feeling' 
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Mr Farage has previously raised the alarm over “a growing number of young people in this country who do not subscribe to British values" who "loathe much of what we stand for".
The Reform UK leader has also warned that an Iftar event held in Trafalgar Square was as an “attempt to overtake, intimidate and dominate our way of life”.
Though as Christian activist Fleur Meston pointed out to GB News, Mr Farage's appointment of Zia Yusuf, a Muslim, to a prominent position within Reform, "immediately puts to bed any claims of Reform or Mr Farage having an anti-Muslim agenda".
"I think it's mischief-making, it's divisive and [the ex-Archbishop] just needs to stop repeating these claims. It's wrong," she added.
Mr Farage has long hailed Britain's Christian values as "something to be proud of", including during an Easter message earlier this year.
Mr Williams said that growing 'Christian nationalism' within Britain could be attributed to 'anxiety about migration'
While in 2025, Reform announced the appointment of theologian Professor James Orr as a senior adviser to Mr Farage.
Prof Orr is now the party's head of policy.
Mr Farage has also welcomed Christian thinkers like Danny Kruger MP to his party, while the Christian Fellowship for Reform holds meetings for prayer and campaigning for Reform UK members.
The party has pledged to introduce a patriotic curriculum which reflects traditional British and Christian history if it wins power, while some of its councillors recite the Lord's Prayer and sing the national anthem before meetings.
Reacting to Prof Orr's move, the ex-Archbishop said: “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.
The ex-Archbishop said he does not believe the Reform UK leader 'lies awake at night thinking about his soul' 
“I may be doing the man an injustice, but I don’t believe he cares about profound theological questions.”
In February, Reform UK pledged to restore Britain's Christian heritage if the party won the next General Election.
The party's home affairs spokesman, Mr Yusuf, vowed to end the practice of converting churches into mosques after being urged to do so by "anxious" Britons, he told The Times.
He also said large numbers of migrants flooding into Britain from "low-trust societies" had led to an erosion of Christian values across the country.
GB News has approached Reform UK for comment following Lord Williams's claims.
