Archbishop of York blasts Nigel Farage's 'isolationist, kneejerk' immigration plans

Stephen Cottrell, the Church of England's current most senior bishop, said the Reform UK leader was not offering a solution to the "big issues" driving people to risk crossing the English Channel in small boats.

His criticism comes after Farage set out plans to remove up to 600,000 people from the country if he forms the next government.

Asked for his response to people suggesting that arrivals in the UK would be locked up and deported straight away, Mr Cottrell said: "I'd say to them: you haven't solved the problem.

"You've just put it somewhere else and you've done nothing to address the issue of what brings people to this country.

"And so if you think that's the answer, you will discover in due course that all you have done is made the problem worse."

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The archbishop, the most senior figure in the Church of England in the absence of an Archbishop of Canterbury, said he had "every sympathy with those who find this difficult".

But he stressed that "we should actively resist the kind of isolationist, short-term kneejerk 'send them home' response".

Asked directly whether that was his message to Mr Farage, the archbishop said: "Well, it is. I mean, Mr Farage is saying the things he's saying, but he is not offering any long-term solution to the big issues which are convulsing our world, which lead to this."