Church of England faces legal challenge over plan to spend £100m on slavery reparations

A churchwarden and a rector have applied to the Charity Commission for permission to mount a legal challenge to the Church of England's Project Spire, the initiative intended to channel £100 million towards slavery reparations. Dr Bijan Omrani, of the Diocese of Exeter, and Revd Dr Jamie Franklin, of the Diocese of Winchester, argue that the scheme violates the Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act 1840. Their case holds that the Church Commissioners' endowments exist to sustain clergy stipends and parish ministry, not to establish an entirely new body. Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally has defended the plan, insisting it does not reduce support for parishes.

Omrani and Franklin contend that the Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice pursues goals entirely outside the purposes that the Church Commissioners' assets are legally required to serve.

The pair also challenge the historical foundations of the scheme, maintaining that scholars have questioned the Church's own estimate of how heavily its finances were 'tainted' by slavery profits.

Lord Biggar, a Conservative peer and Anglican priest, has spearheaded a broader lobbying and media campaign against Project Spire since the plan was announced in 2023.