Fury as bishops say cuts mean poor are cast aside: Cameron and angry MPs attack church's two most senior figures
Archbishops of Canterbury and York say UK's consumerism is 'rampant'
Comments likened to saga which led Thatcherites to call church Marxist
Lord Heseltine said remarks 'out of touch' and PM 'profoundly disagreed'
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With bonus Damian Thompson:
Perhaps the most depressing aspect of this offensive by the Church of England is the involvement of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The fact is that some of what he says is patently not true.
Of course, there are parts of Britain that, sadly, struggle with poverty and addiction, but that does not make us 'a people in crisis'.
We are embarked on a fragile economic recovery, under a Government that is attempting to reduce inequality by ambitious and expensive welfare reforms.
Yet, as in 1985, the Church of England apparently wants to derail that recovery, by painting a picture of an economic landscape so apocalyptic that voters will take the risk of making Ed Miliband prime minister and putting Ed Balls – God help us – in charge of the country's finances..
Ultimately, a key reason for the Church of England's hostility to market forces lies in its own failure to sell itself.
Church attendance has fallen off a cliff – and the same would be true of Catholics, too, if it were not for the presence here of immigrants.
Embarrassed by this fact, bishops are reduced to pontificating about the 'scandal' of food banks and issues such as climate change.