A UK priest who dared to question politicians gets fired

By Eden Garcia –

If you’re a priest in the UK and you criticize the political establishment or the prime minister, you can get kicked out of your church.

That’s what happened to Father Phil Harris, who led St. James Church of West Midlands to a 350% growth only to be summarily terminated in March by the trustees after he ventured to warn Prime Minister Keir Starmer that he was dividing the nation by demonizing his opponents as “far right thugs.”

Father Phil’s archbishop, his ally, criticized the “devious nature” of the trustees who caved in to pressure from the UK’s Charity Commission, which questioned the priest’s personal opinions posted on social media, Phil explained.

The brouhaha started when a parishioner came to see him on a Saturday morning with tears in his eyes. “I’m 79 years old. I’ve paid my dues,” he told Phil. “And the prime minister just called me a far-right thug.”

The United Kingdom was rocked last summer after a son of migrants stabbed and killed three girls at a Taylor Swift dance party in Southport. Ongoing Islamist violence in the UK had been simmering for years and it reached a boiling point in riots when citizens felt the police was withholding information. The knife murders smacked of Islamism.

Anyone who had worried openly about the so-called Islamification of England – the massive influx of Muslim migrants coupled with a Muslim-forgiving two-tier justice system – basically got labeled as “far right thugs.”

But when Phil objected, he got cancelled and fired.

Father Phil has since restarted his own church with probably more than half of the congregation who loved and appreciated him, including his political statements at the Cradley Heath Sports and Social Club.

Phil got started as pastor of the West Midlands St. James Church in 2021.

St. James was the place Phil’s mother was baptized in 1931. His father was pastor until he died, misdiagnosed during Covid. His father’s last wish? “Make sure my church is okay.”

Phil, who was serving the Anglican church in North America and worked in the Middle East and Nigeria, offered to help his father’s church to find a new pastor. Through the transition time, ultimately he was selected to lead the church.

Everyone was happy. The church grew astronomically. Phil gave 60 hours of labor to the church free of charge. His overseeing bishops very graciously allowed him to serve in the church and disattend his previous duties. All was going well.

Until, he spoke out against the leftist elite. Phil even called Starmer, whose socialist policies raise eyebrows, a Communist.

The UK’s Charity Commission, which oversees all non-profits, sent an email in early February to Phil and the trustees of the church questioning his social media posts, which he said he uploaded in a “private capacity” as a citizen who hopes to enjoy free speech.

The ruling Labour Party was cracking down on anyone for anti-government social media posts, blaming them for inflaming passions and riling riots. Keir Starmer said 400 people have been arrested and jailed for social media posts they didn’t like.

Meanwhile, prisoners guilty of violent crimes have been cleared out of prison to make room for Starmer’s FaceBook offenders and the Twitter twits.

(President Trump also cracked down on the Labour government’s suppression of free speech, making it a negative strike against them in ongoing negotiations over tariffs.)

After receiving the warning email from the Charity Commission, seven trustees of St. James voted privately to remove Phil from his duties at the church, a decision they informed him of in March. No church vote was taken.

Shocked as he came out of the dismissal meeting, he said goodbye to the church Whatsapp message group. That’s when he found out that the church had not voted, had not been consulted, had not agreed to the dismissal. Congregants were upset. They joined the exodus of the church that attend Phil’s new church nearby.

The Southport riots turned violent and blamed Islamists and migrants. As it turns out, Axel Rudakubana was sentenced to 52 years in prison for 3 murder counts and several attempted murder counts. Among the information he became obsessed with was Islamist materials, but he also looked at Hitler and other mass killers.