Brighton & Hove

UNEMPLOYED WORKERS CENTRE

Frank Elvy House

4 Crestway Parade, Hollingdean, Brighton BN1 7BL

( & 01273-540717

Fax 01273-540797

E-mail  BHUWC@hotmail.com

Company Limited by Guarantee Registration No. 2315474


George Carey, 01 August 2002

Archbishop of Canterbury,

Lambeth Palace

My Dear Archbishop,

What Took You So Long to Say Goodbye? An Open Letter

You probably don’t remember the letter I wrote to you some years ago. It was at the time that General Pinochet had been detained, pending extradition, in respect of the torture and murder of thousands of Chilean socialists and trade unionists. No doubt you felt a debt of honour to your patron, Mrs Thatcher, when you made a plea for ‘compassion’ on behalf of Pinochet. It was strange that you felt no such urge to speak out about the victims of Pinochet’s regime.

Throughout the past decade the voices of intolerance and bigotry have clamoured against ‘bogus’ asylum seekers. Blunkett, Straw and Michael Howard have consistently done their best to bar entry to, and deport, asylum seekers. None of this, however, has made the slightest impression on your holiness. Not one word, not one press release, has emanated from your lips. Unlike your predecessor, Robert Runcie, you have been content to become a moral cushion for those in power. Perish the thought that you would have joined us protesting outside the detention camps where refugees, including children, are allowed to rot. I just wondered, however, when you read about Jesus and the Pharisees whether you saw any resemblance?

Correct me if I am wrong Archbishop, but didn’t Jesus hang out with the poor and downtrodden? Didn’t he castigate the rich and powerful? Wasn’t he and his parents also in need of refuge? Didn’t it used to be a capital crime for a peasant to possess a bible because s/he might have got the wrong ideas about their rulers? But of course this is irrelevant, because your only role has been as a cheer leader for the rich, powerful and prosperous. The poor and dispossessed should wait till they reach another world. After all, it is a question of camels and needles.

Quite by chance I took a look at the Archbishop of Canterbury’s web site, and what a spiritual riches awake one. Never mind the homeless, the destitute, the unwashed and all those other undesirables that that fellow from Nazareth hung around with. What great cause can there be but Her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee and of course a tribute to the Queen Mum – almost a Parasite’s Corner.

Heaven forbid that you should treat this as any form of criticism. I am sure that you felt wholly satisfied, spiritually and morally, in acting as a footstool for Thatcher, Blair and the Royals. I understand that it is a great disappointment that your successor, Rowan Williams, has spoken up against any war with Iraq. Does he not know that the Lord moves in mysterious ways, especially when there are big arms contracts and oil at stake?

Yours fraternally,

Tony Greenstein

Secretary