News by email Donate

Suggestions

Top Stories

Most Read

Popular Videos

Sentamu-main_article_image.jpg
REX/Daily Mail/Bruce Adams
UK News

We should be allowed to pay extra tax, says Archbishop of York

by Tola Mbakwe

On the first day of the Church of England's General Synod in York, John Sentamu asked members of the synod whether they would personally be willing to pay extra tax to fund health care, education and social care.

The majority responded by a show of hands that they would. However, the members of the synod voted not to include his proposal as part of the church's official response to the current political climate.

Sentamu's proposal was part of a motion called "After the General Election, a still small voice of calm" which addressed uncertain times following the election results and tragedies such as the Grenfell Tower fire.

Asking what might enable community to flourish, Archbishop Sentamu said: "We must learn from our present political and economic challenges to think less about the price of things and more about the value of things.

"There will be many lessons to learn from the fire in Grenfell Tower â€“ but we are already aware that false economies can lead to human tragedy.

"Social care, specifically the so called 'dementia tax', should be an area where we are better off working together, and taking the risk jointly.

"This issue of public sector pay has demonstrated that there is little sign of a coherent plan about how to fund the health service, education, social care, defence, housing, or transport infrastructure."

Sentamu proposed unity in a time where "solutions pit one section of society against another to provide the funds – either by cutting public spending for some, or increasing taxes for others".

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, added that the nation seemed to be dealing with an identity crisis, saying it "has become more blurred and reached some kind of crisis and culmination".

He said: "We are a society where there are rival attempts to seize and proclaim mutually exclusive identities."

The motion was carried overwhelmingly on a show of hands.

A Monthly Gift Of $11 Makes A World Of Difference

In a world of fake news there’s never been a greater need for quality Christian journalism. Premier’s mission is to provide the Church with the most up to date and relevant news, told from a Christian perspective. But we can’t do it without you.

Unlike many websites we haven't put up a paywall — we want to keep our journalism free at the point of need and as open as we can. Premier’s news output takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. No one in the USA is sharing news like we are across radio, magazines and online so please help us to continue that today.

For a monthly gift of $11 or more we’d also be able to send you a free copy of the brand new Premier Bible, a wonderful Anglicised version of the NLT packed with exclusive bonus content, reading plan and resources to help you get the most out of scripture.

Your monthly support will make a world of difference. Thank you.

Support Us
Continue the conversation on our Facebook page

Related Articles

Sign up to our newsletter to stay informed with news from a Christian perspective.

News by email

Connect

Donate

Donate