Sir Keir Starmer has refused to give his backing to embattled Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby over his handling of child abuse claims.
The Prime Minister said it was a matter for the church after pressure grew for Welby to stand down.
Starmer was asked by reporters en route to a climate change summit in Baku, Azerbaijan whether “given increasing calls within the church for the Archbishop of Canterbury to stand down, do you think he should resign”.
The Prime Minister replied: “That’s a matter really for the church rather than for me.”
Starmer refuses to give backing for Archbishop of Canterbury over his handling of ‘egregious’ sex abuse scandal
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Starmer’s comments came shortly after the Rt Rev Helen-Ann Hartley, the Bishop of Newcastle, said urgent action was needed to prevent the Church of England “losing complete credibility” following an outcry over its handling of abuse by John Smyth.
Bishop Hartley also called the archbishop’s position “untenable”, telling the BBC: “It’s very hard to find the words to respond adequately to what the report tells us.“
She added: “I think rightly people are asking the question: ‘Can we really trust the Church of England to keep us safe?’ And I think the answer at the moment is ‘no’.”
The intervention is the first by a bishop and comes amid mounting pressure on the archbishop to stand down.
An independent report released last week concluded that the Most Rev Justin Welby’s failure to act on concerns about Smyth meant the Church of England’s most prolific serial child abuser was never brought to justice.
Andrew Morse, who was abused by Smyth, also called on Welby to resign following the release of last week’s report.
Morse said the archbishop’s failure to act in 2013 was a “dereliction of duty” and a betrayal of victims.
He told The Telegraph: “I think it feels like he prioritised his position and the reputation of his church above the plight of the victims and, because Smyth was still alive at that time, above other potential victims as well.”
The 63-year-old added: “He knew in 2013, he knew the set-up, the victim group and the place where we were groomed, all the way back to the 1980s.
“But I think he’s admitted himself he showed a complete lack of energy in his actions and I think if he knew in 2013 and he failed to stop Smyth then, it’s very poor that he waited until the publication of a report in 2024 to consider his own position.”
A petition, which has been launched by three members of Church of England’s General Synod, has also demanded Welby resign.
The scandal surrounds Smyth subjecting as many as 130 victims to “appalling” sexual violence.
Smyth died in Cape Town in 2018 while Hampshire Police were conducting an investigation into the allegations.
A Lambeth Palace spokesman said: “The archbishop reiterates his horror at the scale of John Smyth’s egregious abuse, as reflected in his public apology.
“He has apologised profoundly both for his own failures and omissions, and for the wickedness, concealment, and abuse by the Church more widely.
“As he has said, he had no awareness or suspicion of the allegations before he was told in 2013 – and therefore having reflected, he does not intend to resign.
“He hopes the Makin Review supports the ongoing work of building a safer church here and around the world.”
