TONY BLAIR’S Government was condemned yesterday by the Archbishop of York for passing too much legislation and risking debasement of the law as a result.

The Most Rev John Sentamu, speaking after being sworn in to the House of Lords, made clear that he would be an active member of the Upper House. His background as a lawyer and judge in the Uganda of Idi Amin will make him a valuable addition to the 26 bishops.

The Archbishop said: “What I feel very strongly about is when you make a lot of laws all the time, one has to be extremely careful they are not made in haste.” He called for a study on exactly how many laws had been passed since Labour was elected in 1997. “I think there have been too many,” he said. “The more laws you pass, the greater the insecurity you create in society.”

Dr Sentamu, who fled Uganda, his country of birth, and came to Britain when it became clear that his life was at risk from Amin’s Government, continued: “Laws are good because they show us how we need to be governed. But the more laws you have got, the more the law becomes debased.”

The Archbishop is particularly concerned about the Terrorism Bill going through Parliament. It was introduced after the law lords ruled that detention without trial of foreign terror suspects breached the European Convention on Human Rights.

Dr Sentamu said: “Nobody has proven that if you hold suspects longer you are more likely to get a confession.” Returning from his first division, a vote for an amendment to the Bill moved by Baroness Williams, he said: “I remember the Dangerous Dogs Act. It was rushed in pretty fast. It soon became clear that although the intention was right, they should have taken longer over it.

“I certainly feel the country must protect itself against those who would destroy it. I am totally against violence. But we have got to get a much tighter definition of what terrorism is.” The present definition, made under the Terrorism Act 2000, was too broad.

Sir William Macpherson, the retired High Court judge responsible for the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, which highlighted institutional racism in the police, said that the Archbishop would “make a vast contribution to our national life. He will be particularly well qualified to deal with any matters concerning race and immigration. One of his main themes is that there is only one race — the human race.”

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