Tory-Catholic relations at new low as Pickles cancels Rome trip

Cabinet minister Eric Pickles pulled out of attending the consistory in Rome where Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols was created a cardinal. His decision not to attend came just days after the archbishop forcefully criticised the Government over welfare reform, sparking speculation of a rift between the Conservative Party and the Catholic Church.

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government blamed his responsibilities for flood response for his no-show at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. But when questioned about his decision not to attend and asked for information about his responsibilities on 22 February, a spokeswoman blamed weather forecasts for predicting the weather wrongly last weekend.

On 5 February, Mr Pickles welcomed the invitation to the consistory and praised “the terrific work the Archbishop of Westminster does serving the community”. Ten days later, The Daily Telegraph published an interview with Archbishop Nichols in which he said that the impact of the Government’s welfare reforms was “frankly a disgrace” and that the safety net for the poorest families had been torn apart. As Archbishop Nichols stepped up his criticisms at a press conference, Prime Minister David Cameron intervened saying his comments were “simply not true”. Two days later, Mr Pickles announced he would not go to the consistory.

A former official at Mr Pickles’ department said it was likely that the anger expressed by backbench Conservative MPs over the ­cardinal’s remarks had an impact on the Secretary of State’s decision not to go to Rome. “Imagine if they had seen a picture of the Secretary of State with the new cardinal just days after this row. It would have gone down very badly,” he said.

Today in The Tablet, the Labour MP Frank Field, who has acted as poverty tsar for David Cameron, describes the relationship between Vincent Nichols and the Prime Minister as “war” and that Cardinal Nichols’ intervention had significantly changed the welfare debate in Britain.

The original plan was for Mr Pickles to attend the consistory with Lord Patten, a former Conservative minister and current chairman of the BBC Trust. In the event, Lord Patten was accompanied by Baroness Stowell, under-secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government – the lowest-ranking ministerial position – who replaced Eric Pickles at the last minute. In contrast, when Archbishop Seán Brady of Armagh received his red hat in 2007, it was witnessed by Shaun Woodward, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the late Paul Goggins, Minister of State in the same department, and Martin McGuinness, deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland.

Relations between the Catholic Church and the Coalition Government began well, with Vincent Nichols praising David Cameron’s Big Society initiative. But since then there has been a deterioration, especially after senior Catholic clergy expressed strong opposition to the Same-Sex Marriage Bill.

Although Cardinal Nichols gets on well with Faith Minister Baroness (Sayeeda) Warsi, one Whitehall lobbyist said: “The problem is that with Warsi, the Catholic bishops backed the wrong horse. She is not in charge of a spending department so she has no real clout and that’s what counts. And the Catholic Church isn’t making enough friends in Government. On the other hand, it knows Labour people well, such as Tim Livesey [Opposition leader Ed Miliband’s chief of staff and former adviser to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor] and Jon Cruddas [Labour’s policy coordinator].” Both Mr Livesey and Mr Cruddas are Catholics.

Catholic bishops have also been blamed for failing to understand that ministers will listen more to criticism if meetings are arranged for constructive discussions and praise is occasionally meted out. But when the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) became the first Whitehall department to commit itself to backing the Living Wage – an initiative that fits with Catholic Social Teaching – the bishops failed to praise the DWP – the department responsible for welfare reform that Cardinal Nichols has lambasted.

The DWP’s Secretary of State is Iain Duncan Smith, himself a Catholic. But another senior Catholic said that the rift between the Church and the Government was not entirely the fault of the bishops.

“There is a lack of interest among the Coalition in the Catholic Church. Duncan Smith has been invisible on civil-Catholic church matters.”