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Chris Patten: Osborne lax over human rights concerns on China trip Chris Patten: Osborne lax over human rights concerns on China trip
(about 1 hour later)
George Osborne was at risk of failing to show due regard for concerns about human rights and civil liberties on his recent trade mission to China, according to a former chairman of the Conservative party. George Osborne risked failing to show due regard for concerns about human rights and civil liberties on his recent trade mission to China, according to a former chairman of the Conservative party.
Chris Patten, who was also the last British governor of Hong Kong, said he was surprised by what Osborne was doing and saying on his five-day trip last month, where he announced a deal with China to finance and build nuclear power stations in the UK. Chris Patten, who was the last British governor of Hong Kong and a former chair of the BBC Trust, said he was surprised by what Osborne was doing and saying on his five-day trip last month, where he announced a deal with China to finance and build nuclear power stations in the UK.
In an interview with the Guardian, Patten said he did not believe David Cameron had “departed very far from traditional Tory instincts” but “the jury’s out” on Osborne.In an interview with the Guardian, Patten said he did not believe David Cameron had “departed very far from traditional Tory instincts” but “the jury’s out” on Osborne.
On the chancellor’s China trip, he said: “There was a danger that the Treasury would be allowed to get away with the argument that soft power doesn’t include regard for human rights and civil liberties around the world. These ideas weren’t always regarded as so off the wall.” On the chancellor’s China trip, he said: “There was a danger that the Treasury would be allowed to get away with the argument that ‘soft power’ doesn’t include regard for human rights and civil liberties around the world. These ideas weren’t always regarded as so off the wall.”
Patten, one of the UK’s foremost lay Catholics, who has been advising the Vatican on its communications, said it was not unreasonable for church leaders to criticise government policy, following pre-election statements made by Church of England bishops and Catholic leaders.Patten, one of the UK’s foremost lay Catholics, who has been advising the Vatican on its communications, said it was not unreasonable for church leaders to criticise government policy, following pre-election statements made by Church of England bishops and Catholic leaders.
Related: Britain soft on China over Hong Kong crisis, says Chris Patten
“If church leaders don’t speak out on issues like immigration or poverty, they can’t have read the gospels. I’m extremely relaxed about them speaking out on these sort of issues, which all of us should be concerned about.”“If church leaders don’t speak out on issues like immigration or poverty, they can’t have read the gospels. I’m extremely relaxed about them speaking out on these sort of issues, which all of us should be concerned about.”
In the runup to the general election, an open letter from Britain’s C of E bishops attacked the “growing appetite to exploit grievances” and “find scapegoats” in society and called for “a fresh moral vision of the kind of country we want to be”. Last year, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the head of the Roman Catholic church in England and Wales, said the government’s austerity programme was a disgrace and its welfare reforms were punitive. An open letter from Britain’s C of E bishops before the general election attacked the “growing appetite to exploit grievances” and “find scapegoats” in society and called for “a fresh moral vision of the kind of country we want to be”. Last year, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the head of the Catholic church in England and Wales, said the government’s austerity programme was a disgrace and its welfare reforms were punitive.
Patten said the Catholic church must be more in tune with “the way people live their lives” in the real world.Patten said the Catholic church must be more in tune with “the way people live their lives” in the real world.
He said a much more open debate about issues such as divorce, cohabitation, contraception and same-sex relationships was needed or the church risked damage from the disjuncture between its magisterium and the realities of life. He said a much more open debate about issues such as divorce, cohabitation, contraception and same-sex relationships was needed or the church risked damage from the disjuncture between its “magisterium” (or teaching authority) and the realities of life.
His comments came as the Vatican embarked on a historic summit on family issues which pits church conservatives against progressives in a concentrated version of a battle that is being played out globally among the Catholic church’s 1.2 billion followers. It is expected to consider whether divorced Catholics should be allowed to take communion and whether to be more open to homosexuality. His comments came as the Vatican embarked on a historic summit on family issues, which pits church conservatives against progressives in a concentrated version of a battle that is being played out globally among the Catholic church’s 1.2 billion followers. It is expected to consider whether divorced Catholics should be allowed to take communion and whether to be more open to homosexuality.
Urging church leaders to adjust their positions, Patten said: “If you look at the figures for cohabitation, single parents, divorce and so on, you see a big disjuncture between what the church says and the way people behave, not just for non-Catholics, but Catholics as well.”Urging church leaders to adjust their positions, Patten said: “If you look at the figures for cohabitation, single parents, divorce and so on, you see a big disjuncture between what the church says and the way people behave, not just for non-Catholics, but Catholics as well.”
One of Patten’s grandsons was being prepared for his first holy communion, he said, and often parents were encouraged to take communion with their child. “What do you do with kids in the class whose parents are divorced and aren’t allowed to take communion? What do you tell those eight and nine-year-olds? That their parents are living in sin, that their parents are wicked?” He hoped that “wisdom and sense and forgiveness” would come from the Vatican’s synod on the family. One of Patten’s grandsons was being prepared for his first communion, he said, and often parents were encouraged to take communion with their child. “What do you do with kids in the class whose parents are divorced and aren’t allowed to take communion? What do you tell those eight and nine-year-olds? That their parents are living in sin, that their parents are wicked?” He hoped that “wisdom and sense and forgiveness” would come from the Vatican’s synod on the family.
Patten observed the institutions of the Vatican close up when he was invited to lead a review of its media strategy last year, delivering his recommendations in April. He proposed measures to improve efficiency in the €70m (£52m) media operation that employs more than 600 staff and greater engagement with digital communication and social media. Patten observed the institutions of the Vatican close up when he was invited to lead a review of its media strategy last year, delivering his recommendations in April. He proposed measures to improve efficiency in the €70m (£52m) media operation, which employs more than 600 staff, and greater engagement with digital communication and social media.
Patten said he would have liked to oversee implementation of his proposals, “but probably for the Vatican this was a bridge too far. There are limits to their enthusiasm for outsiders”. Despite Pope Francis’s commitment to modernising Vatican institutions – which, Patten says, “haven’t been hugely transparent over the years” – there was some resistance in Rome. “Like any bureaucracy, it builds up patterns of behaviour which tend to repel rather than welcome change.” Patten said he would have liked to oversee implementation of his proposals, “but probably for the Vatican this was a bridge too far. There are limits to their enthusiasm for outsiders.” Despite Pope Francis’s commitment to modernising Vatican institutions – which, Patten admitted, “haven’t been hugely transparent over the years” – there was some resistance in Rome. “Like any bureaucracy, it builds up patterns of behaviour which tend to repel rather than welcome change.”
Francis was an extraordinary pope, Patten said, combining “natural humility with fierce intelligence – and at the same time is likeable and funny, and does the things you’d want a pastor to do. I know I’m a bit old to be a groupie, but …” Francis was an extraordinary pope, Patten said, combining “natural humility with fierce intelligence – and at the same time is likeable and funny, and does the things you’d want a pastor to do. I know I’m a bit old to be a groupie, but…”