Justin Welby criticises ‘cruelty’ and ‘harmful rhetoric’ of UK asylum policy

Archbishop of Canterbury calls for approach based on compassion and recognition of human dignity in House of Lords debate

The archbishop of Canterbury has accused the government of cruelty in its asylum policy, and said that people-smuggling is as serious as slave trading in the 19th century.

Opening a debate in the House of Lords on Friday with a rebuke aimed at the home secretary, Suella Braverman, Justin Welby said the harmful rhetoric" that those arriving in the UK are invaders" must cease.