Archbishop of Canterbury dismisses spin doctor

Rowan Williams dismisses George Pitcher following Tory protests over a controversial magazine article condemning coalition The archbishop of Canterbury has dismissed his spin doctor after just nine months following Tory protests over a controversial magazine article condemning the coalition. George Pitcher, an Anglican priest and former journalist, was hired last October as public affairs secretary at Lambeth Palace and engineered Rowan Williams’s stint as guest editor for the New Statesman last month which saw the archbishop launch a sustained attack on the coalition. His criticism, seen by Whitehall as the most outspoken by an archbishop in a decade, pitted him against the state and left Lambeth Palace officials scrambling to minimise the damage as Conservative politicians and peers berated the archbishop either through the media or through channels at the Church of England. Sunday, Lambeth Palace confirmed that Pitcher was leaving, but refused to say whether the New Statesmen stint had anything to do with his exit. “George was contracted to advise the archbishop on public affairs issues and that contract expires on 30 September, when he will have completed projects he was asked to undertake.” When approached by the Guardian about his departure Pitcher said: “I am returning to journalism, a culture to which I am better suited.” In the two-page editorial entitled “The government needs to know how afraid people are”, Williams said the coalition was facing “bafflement and indignation” over its planned health and education reforms. “With remarkable speed, we are being committed to radical, long-term policies for which no one voted,” he wrote. David Cameron rejected such assertions, saying he disagreed with Williams. “I’ve never been one to say the church has to fight shy of making political interventions, but what I would say is that I profoundly disagree with many of the views that he’s expressed, particularly on issues like debt and on welfare and education.” He added: “I am absolutely convinced that our policies are about actually giving people greater responsibility and greater chances in their life and I will defend those very vigorously.” Rowan Williams Religion Liberal-Conservative coalition Riazat Butt guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 17, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.