Christian Groups 'Annoyed' At Reform Conference Held In Church House

27 February 2026
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Catherine WyattBBC religious affairs


A number of Christian groups have actually spoken of their "shock and disappointment" that Reform UK was allowed to utilize the Church of England's headquarters for a press conference.


They said the celebration's migration policies were opposed to Church beliefs and teachings.


Reform UK leader Nigel Farage announced his brand-new leading group at a press conference in the Assembly Hall at Church House in Westminster recently.


The celebration stated the criticism was "little bit more than a cheap political stunt".


Church House, whose lettings policy states it does decline reservations from groups which "promote racial prejudice", said it ran on a commercial basis, and was not part of the Church of England.


Christians for a Welcoming Britain stated it was "annoyed" that Church House had actually allowed Reform UK to use the place, which it created the impression the Church offered its "blessing" to "hostile policies and divisive rhetoric".


Other organisations and celebrations - consisting of the Conservatives and Labour - have actually formerly used the location, as have Reform multiple times.


But it was their most current occasion, hosted inside the chamber where the Church of England had only the week before held its nationwide assembly, General Synod, which triggered the most significant stir.


Christians from the groups Better Story, Christians Against the Far Right and Christians for a Welcoming Britain, have written to Church House to complain.


In his letter, Reverend Keith Brindle, a Church of England priest in Frome, and planner of Christians Against the Far Right, composed that the location had actually been "utilized as an ethical background for policies that contradict the very heart of the Christian faith".


He composed: "Church House has offered a veneer of spiritual legitimacy to Reform's anti-migrant and anti-Muslim politics, and their negative scapegoating.


"As followers of Jesus, we must refuse to let the architecture of our faith be utilized to endorse the dehumanisation of our neighbours.


"The Church should be a sanctuary for the displaced, not a platform for their expulsion."


At Reform UK's event, Zia Yusuf was announced as the celebration's lead on home affairs, with a concentrate on cutting legal and prohibited immigration.


The party has given that revealed strategies to develop a "UK Deportation Command", a new company to carry out of prohibited migrants.


It was not the very first time Church House had actually come under fire for its use by external organisations.


In late 2020, the place hosted two boxing fights sponsored by online betting firm 32Red.


At the time, critics argued that betting dependency was devastating, and should not be seen to be promoted by the Church.


Campaigners have likewise formerly opposed Royal United Services Institute (Rusi)'s yearly Land Warfare Conference being hosted at the venue.


In a statement to the BBC, Church House said it accepted "reservations from organisations that fulfill our ethical lettings policy, subject to availability".


The policy states that bookings might be denied if "the hirer promotes views which are anathema to the teachings of the Church of England, as may be affirmed by its Synodical or Episcopal statement from time to time, such as groups which promote racial bias".


A Reform UK representative told the BBC: "This is little bit more than a cheap political stunt by a group that is completely out of touch with the British public.


"Poll after poll shows immigration is a top issue for voters. Attempting to close down debate on a subject near citizens' hearts is both un-Christian and authoritarian."