Archbishop of Canterbury hits out at ‘perverted, nihilistic, despairing’ worldview of Westminster terrorist

Most Reverend Justin Welby contrasts assailant's actions with public's efforts to care for the injured in address to House of Lords

Head of the Church of England hails public response as 'a victory for what's right and good over what is evil, despairing and bad' (Getty)

The Archbishop of Canterbury has hit out at the “perverted, nihilistic, despairing” view of the terrorist who carried out the Westminster attack on Wednesday.

The Most Reverend Justin Welby contrasted it with the devotion shown by those who cared for those injured in the attack.

He told the Lords that it was through such care and duty that there was a “victory for what's right and good over what is evil, despairing and bad”.

After the Prime Minister's statement had been repeated in the Lords, the Archbishop said he had received messages of sympathy and support from faith leaders around the world and across the UK overnight.

He painted what he described “three pictures” for peers, the first being of a vehicle being driven across Westminster Bridge “by someone who had a perverted, nihilistic, despairing view of objectives of what life is about and society is about that could only be fulfilled by death and destruction”.

The second, he said, was of that “same person a few minutes later... being treated by the very people he had sought to kill”.

The third was of “these two Houses where profound, bitter and angry disagreement is dealt with not with violence, despair or cruelty but with discussion, reason and calmness”.

The Archbishop said these “pictures” pointed to deep values of doing what was right and behaving properly “where that generosity and extraordinary sense of duty leads people to treat a terrorist is shown, where that bravery of someone like Pc (Keith) Palmer is demonstrated, that there is a victory for what is right and good over what is evil, despairing and bad.

“That was shown yesterday.

“That is shown not just in our expression of values but in our practices which define those values and that is the mood we must show in the future,” he added, to cheers of support from a packed chamber.

Press Association