Christians attending a Pentecostal festival have been urged towards a thoughtful and prayerful engagement with politics in the European and local elections, following the MPs' expense scandal and calls to isolate the racist BNP.

The Malawi Council of Churches has asked John Tembo, the leader of the main opposition Malawi Congress Party to accept the landslide victory of President Bingu wa Mutharika secured in the 19 May 2009 elections

As public anger and dissatisfaction grows at the corruption in the mainstream political system, the Anglican Archbishops of Canterbury and York have made a joint appeal to voters not to support the BNP and other racist or extremist parties in protest.

Dr Rowan Williams is being accused of complacency and instititutional isolation for his suggestion that MPs are being humiliated in the current expenses scandal, and that this could irreparably damage public engagement with politics. A new poll suggests he is mistaken.