Faith leaders urge PM to strive for truth and integrity in public life

Houses of Parliament - Image ICN/JS

The Catholic bishops of Lancaster, Portsmouth and Middlesbrough are among 19 faith leaders who have signed a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak highlighting how democracy has been weakened by the repeated undermining of integrity, and the failure of existing structures to hold politicians to account. It asks the Prime Minister to strive for a culture of truth and integrity in government and parliament.

The letter comes as the Deputy Prime Minister, Dominic Raab, faces an investigation into his behaviour, after two formal complaints against him.

It calls on the Prime Minister to appoint a new Independent Adviser on Ministers' interests, as he pledged when coming into office. "All of us hold truth and integrity as sacred or intrinsic to our beliefs", the letter says. "By being honest and true to our values, we can have the right relationship with ourselves, others, and the ultimate truth. We want our political leaders to be role models for these values, as set out in the Seven Principles of Public Life."

The full letter follows:

Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP Prime Minister
10 Downing St
London SW1A 2AA

16 November 2022

Dear Rishi Sunak

Thank you for promising to serve our country with integrity. We write as faith and belief leaders to welcome you to office and ask you to take action to improve truth and integrity in public life.

All of us hold truth and integrity as sacred or intrinsic to our beliefs. By being honest and true to our values, we can have the right relationship with ourselves, others, and the ultimate truth.

We want our political leaders to be role models for these values, as set out in the Seven Principles of Public Life. We would like them to be supported by structures that enable and require politicians and staff to show truth and integrity at all times. In recent years there have been numerous examples to show that existing structures are insufficient to uphold truth and integrity, and this has weakened our democracy. When politicians breach people's trust and are not held to account by the system, people become disillusioned, and leaders lose their mandate to govern.

We ask you to strive for a culture of truth and integrity in government and parliament, and strengthen the laws, policies and processes that hold people in public office to account. An excellent first step would to be to appoint a new Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests as you have pledged. They must be chosen via an independent appointments process and have the authority to initiate investigations and determine breaches of the Ministerial Code. They could then oversee further changes to strengthen integrity in government.

We hold you in our thoughts and prayers as you embark on this challenging journey, and we stand ready to assist you in any way we can.

Yours sincerely

Bishop Mike Royal, General Secretary, Churches Together in England
Lord Indarjit Singh, Director, Network of Sikh Organisations
Mr Rajnish Kashyap, General Secretary/Director, Hindu Council UK
Mrs Trupti Patel, President, Hindu Forum Britain
Zara Mohammed, Secretary-General, Muslim Council of Britain
Jamie Cresswell, Director, Centre for Applied Buddhism
Andrew Copson, Chief Executive, Humanists UK
Elizabeth Slade, Chief Officer, General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
Kaspa Thompson, Chairperson, Network of Buddhist Organisations (signing in a personal capacity)
Munisha, Member, Triratna Buddhist Order (signing in a personal capacity)
Most Revd Andrew John, Archbishop of Wales, Church in Wales
Right Reverend Mary Stallard, Assistant Bishop in Bangor, Church in Wales
Right Reverend Cherry Vann, Bishop of Monmouth, Church in Wales
Paul Parker, Recording Clerk, Quakers in Britain
Revd Fiona Bennett, Moderator of General Assembly, United Reformed Church
Revd Paul Rochester, General Secretary, Free Churches Group
Right Revd Paul Swarbrick, Bishop of Lancaster, Catholic Church
Right Revd Philip Egan, Bishop of Portsmouth, Catholic Church
Right Revd Terence Drainey, Bishop of Middlesbrough, Catholic Church