Fulfill your pledge to govern with integrity, faith leaders urge PM

Welsh bishops are joining other faith leaders in calling on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to stand by his pledge to govern with integrity.

In a letter signed by 19 different faith and belief groups, signatories highlight 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.

It also calls on him 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 independent adviser should be chosen by an independent appointments process, and have the authority to initiate investigations and determine breaches of the Ministerial Code, the letter says.

The independent adviser could then oversee further changes to strengthen integrity in government.

The letter, which was published in The Times newspaper, on November 18, is signed by the Archbishop of Wales, Andrew John, the Bishop of Monmouth, Cherry Vann, and the Assistant Bishop in Bangor, Mary Stallard. Other signatories include Bishop Mike Royal, general secretary, Churches Together in England; Lord Indarjit Singh, director, Network of Sikh Organisations; Rajnish Kashyap, general secretary/director, the Hindu Council UK; Trupti Patel, president, the Hindu Forum Britain; Paul Parker, recording clerk, Quakers in Britain; and Zara Mohammed, secretary-general, the Muslim Council of Britain.