Fury as 'pointless' Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby turns his back on chaplain reported to a terror unit after questioning his school's new LGBT policies.
- Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is slammed for not supporting a chaplain
- Reverend Dr Bernard Randall reported to Prevent programme by Trent College
- Dr Randall told pupils they were allowed to disagree with school's LGBT policies
- A police probe ruled he posed 'no counter-terrorism risk, or risk of radicalisation'
- Christian Legal Centre appealed for Justin Welby to publicly support Dr Randall
The Archbishop of Canterbury was last night lambasted for refusing to support a chaplain who was reported to an anti-terrorism programme after he questioned his school's new LGBT policies.
Church of England leaders were urged to intervene after this newspaper revealed how independent Trent College near Nottingham secretly reported Reverend Dr Bernard Randall to the Prevent programme, which normally identifies those at risk of being radicalised.
Dr Randall, 48, had delivered a sermon in which he told pupils they were allowed to disagree with the school's new LGBT policies, particularly if they felt they ran contrary to the Church's principles.
The school decided Dr Randall's sermon was 'harmful to LGBT' students and referred him to Prevent, although a police probe ruled the chaplain posed 'no counter-terrorism risk, or risk of radicalisation'.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (above) was lambasted for not supporting a chaplain who was reported to an anti-terrorism programme for questioning his school's LGBT policies
The Christian Legal Centre, which has taken up Dr Randall's case, appealed for Archbishop Justin Welby, along with the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, and the Bishop of Derby, Libby Lane, to publicly support Dr Randall.
'Will you use your platform to defend Dr Randall and freedom of belief and religion in our schools,' centre chief executive Andrea Williams asked in a letter.
But all three senior figures declined to give Dr Randall their backing.
Asked whether the Most Rev Welby, who is on a three-month sabbatical, believed the school was right to report Dr Randall to Prevent, a spokesman at Lambeth Palace said: 'We don't have any comment.'
The Archbishop's failure to back Dr Randall provoked fierce criticism.
Sir John Hayes, chairman of the Common Sense Group of Tory MPs and peers, said: 'There's nothing in the sermon that I saw published in the paper that anyone would find disturbing.
'When a clergyman is sacked for giving a sermon and the Archbishop doesn't act, you are entitled to ask: at what point would the Archbishop act? What's going to happen for the Archbishop to act? If he's never going to act, what's the point of him?'
Ms Williams added: 'It is incredibly disappointing, but sadly not surprising, that the leadership of the Church of England have failed to speak up in support of Dr Randall. Where is Welby on this issue?'
Meanwhile, George Carey, who was Archbishop of Canterbury between 1991 and 2002, heaped pressure on his successor by saying Dr Randall 'deserves the support of the Church of England'. Mail.
