Churches condemn terror spend

Britain's religious leaders condemned the failure of wealthy nations to spend enough on tackling poverty around the world while spending too much on fighting terrorism.

Britain's religious leaders condemned the failure of wealthy nations to spend enough on tackling poverty around the world while spending too much on fighting terrorism.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, used his Christmas sermon yesterday to accuse world leaders of wrongly focusing too heavily on combating terrorism while failing to meet their promise to cut global poverty by half by 2015.

He also said basic principles of "justice and liberty" for all were being sacrificed for security. He said people were right to anxious about terrorism, but suggested the real risk of attack was less than the public was lead to believe.

Meanwhile, the head of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, criticised using "billions of pounds" for conflicts in the Middle East instead of "bringing people out of dire poverty, malnourishment and disease".

The Queen, in her Christmas broadcast, appealed for greater tolerance between Britain's various faiths ­ bringing a warm welcome from Muslim and Jewish leaders. Warning that extremists could threaten peace in a multicultural society, she said: "It is vitally important that we all should participate and co-operate for the sake of the wellbeing of the whole community."