A group of Conservative MPs and peers has called on the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury to abandon a £100 million fund intended to address the Church of England's historical links to slavery.
The appeal was made in a letter to Dame Sarah Mullally, seen by the Sunday Times.
The signatories argue that church funds can legally only be used for the maintenance of churches and the payment of clergy wages.
They have urged the Bishop of London to prevent the expenditure.
In response, the Church Commissioners issued a statement to the newspaper, affirming that the arrangements for the fund were "being developed transparently – in line with charity law." Dame Sarah Mullally, who is set to become the first female Archbishop of Canterbury next month, is at the center of the dispute.
The £100 million initiative was announced in January 2023 after the publication of a report commissioned by the Church Commissioners into the Church's historical ties to transatlantic slavery.
That report detailed how a fund established by Queen Anne in 1704, known as Queen Anne's Bounty, was used to support the church.
The investigation found that this fund had invested in African chattel enslavement and accepted donations derived from the slave trade, which the report described as having financed a "great evil."