Archbishop of Canterbury weighs in on partygate

In signs of continuing tension between the prime minister and the head of the church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury has this afternoon weighed in with his thoughts on the Sue Gray report.

In a statement, Justin Welby said, “Sue Gray’s report shows that culture, behaviour and standards in public life really matter. We need to be able to trust our national institutions particularly in times of great trouble”.

In what will be seen as further criticism of the prime minister, the Archbishop of Canterbury said, “Standards in public life are the glue that holds us together, we need to rediscover them, and abide by them”.

Last month Justin Welby launched a broadside at the government in relation to the government’s proposed policy on transporting channel migrants to Rwanda.

This in turn led the prime minister to attack the Archbishop at a 1922 meeting of his backbench MPs, suggesting that the Church of England should be focussing their attention on criticising President Putin.

It remains to be seen whether the prime minister will respond to Mr Welby’s latest intervention.