Archbishop likens Brown's common man snub in recession to Hitler's policies

London, Dec 22 (ANI): The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that Britain must learn a lesson from Hitler's Nazi Germany for dealing with the effects of the global recession, in terms of valuing the common man.

Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, said in an article in the Daily Telegraph that Germany in the 1930s pursued a "principle" that worked consistently, but only on the basis that "quite a lot of people that you might have thought mattered as human beings actually didn't".

Drawing a parallel between the Nazis and the UK Government's policies for tackling the downturn, Dr Williams said that the government has failed to take account of the "particular human costs" to the most vulnerable in society.

"What about the unique concerns and crises of the pensioner whose savings have disappeared, the Woolworth's employee, the hopeful young executive, let alone the helpless producer of goods in some Third-world environment where prices are determined thousands of miles away?" he told Daily Telegraph.

In an apparent reference to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has claimed to be guided by a moral compass, the Archbishop also observes that "without these anxieties about the specific costs, we've lost the essential moral compass".

In his article, Dr Williams warns of the dangers of "unconditional loyalty to a system" that turned into a "nightmare" in Germany under Hitler, in which only certain groups and ideas were valued, while others were deemed dispensable and suffering was ignored.

He goes on to suggest that some "principled" defences of the economy "block out actual human faces and stories", and defends the right of religious leaders to raise questions about the social implications of financial plans.

In response, the Prime Minister defended his "fiscal stimulus" policies by alluding to the Biblical parable of the Good Samaritan.

According to Brown, "I think the Archbishop would also agree with me that every time someone becomes unemployed or loses their home or a small business fails it is our duty to act and we should not walk by on the other side when people are facing problems."

Unemployment is predicted to top 2 million by the New Year, as high street names such as Woolworths and MFI go under.

Thousands have fallen into negative equity as the property market has fallen by 15 per cent. Millions of prudent savers are also suffering as interest rates have been cut to 2 per cent. (ANI)