Church is right to “irritate” Government, says Pickles

A senior Conservative minister, Eric Pickles, has admitted the Government gets irritated by the interventions of church leaders, but at the same time says it is good to listen to what they have to say, writes Joanna Moorhead.

“Do we sometimes get irritated by the voices of church leaders?” Mr Pickles asked at a reception on Wednesday in the House of Commons for the Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN), the Church’s social-action arm. “Yes – but it’s good for us. The voice of the Catholic Church speaking up for people on low incomes is a powerful voice and I would encourage it.” Earlier this year, Mr Pickles, the Communities Secretary, had been due to attend the­ consistory where Cardinal Vincent Nichols was to be made a cardinal. But he later pulled out of attending after  the then Archbishop Nichols strongly criticised the Government’s welfare cuts.

In his speech at the CSAN event, Cardinal Nichols suggested that Parliament should learn from the Church’s hands-on approach to tackling poverty.

Elsewhere in Parliament, Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill entered its committee stage in the House of Lords. Baroness (Sheila) Hollins told The Tablet that she had proposed amendments to the bill which she said would provide some safeguards.