SPEECH BY THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

That this House commends the speech made by the Right Rev. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in Cardiff on 7 March 2009; supports his wide-ranging attack on the globalised economic system which in the West has fuelled spectacular, debt-driven, purchasing power and dramatic insecurity; agrees with the Archbishop that the lifestyle dependency of the few on high levels of fossil fuel consumption has been at the expense of long-term opportunities for the many and regional instability based on oil; further agrees that the pursuit of growth as the singular instrument of economic and social prosperity has further promoted inequalities; believes that the Archbishop is correct in his analysis that the widespread public condemnation and vilification of the bonuses and pension arrangements of failed bankers is justified, but has obscured the activities of governments that are committed to deregulation; and calls on the Government to follow the Archbishop's wise advice that any morally credible policy should be based on the needs of the majority and not the greed of a few.