Moral duty is Remain vote, says Archbishop

Dr John Sentamu also implored voters to acknowledge the EU’s contribution to post-war peace after he endorsed the Remain campaign.

“My conscience tells me that I must vote to Remain in the European Union,” he said. “The possibility of any kind of organised political life depends on successive generations accepting the responsibilities undertaken before them.

“This applies both to the internal stability of nations, and also to the external stability of relations among them. The implication of wanting to decide everything afresh in every generation is universal instability.

“If we are serious about supporting either national or international order, we shall have to be prepared to live up to inherited obligations, even if we may sometimes think that they would have been better not incurred.”

Acknowledging public scepticism about the EU’s bureaucracy and governance, the Archbishop added: “All institutions need renewal and change, and European institutions are notorious for their jungle of regulations. They need regular pruning and reform if they are to meet contemporary problems that engross us all. But Europe is bigger than European institutions.

“We should continue to work and walk together...Moral responsibilities must never give way to pragmatism.”