A fixation with homosexual rights, feminism and separate racial identities is threatening to "fragment" British society, the Archbishop of Canterbury has claimed.
Dr Rowan Williams warned that identity had become a "slippery" word and, after years of good work in helping minority groups, it was time to focus on the common good. Discussing the issue of identity with a group of teenagers in Cardiff, the Welsh archbishop also appeared to accept the possibility that Britain could break apart as a result of growing nationalism.
In a separate address to the Welsh Assembly, he attacked a culture of dependence on welfare payments, which he said was harmful to society.
Dr Williams, who is stepping down as leader of the Anglican Communion later this year, signalled last week that he planned to use his final months in office to speak out forcefully on issues about which he feels deeply.
Yesterday he joined a group of teenagers debating "identity politics" which he said amounted to saying: "This is who I am, these are my rights, I demand that you recognise me." He added: "Identity politics, whether it is the politics of feminism, whether it is the politics of ethnic minorities or the politics of sexual minorities, has been a very important part of the last 10 or 20 years because before that I think there was a sense that diversity was not really welcome.
"And so minorities of various kinds and women began to say 'actually we need to say who we are in our terms not yours' and that led to identity politics of a very strong kind and legislation that followed it.
"We are now, I think, beginning to see the pendulum swinging back and saying identity politics is all very well but we have to have some way of putting it all back together again and discovering what is good for all of us and share something of who we are with each other so as to discover more about who we are."
He added: "Identity isn't just something sealed off and finished with - it's always work in progress. Once we start saying this is my identity and that's it then I think we are in danger of really fragmenting the society we belong to."
He also admitted that he felt Welsh before British and spoke of the possibility that Britain could break apart as Scottish and Welsh nationalism grows in importance. "I think it is important that whatever happens to the future of Britain, the nations of these islands, we remain communities that are willing to work for and with one another," he said.
Canon Giles Goddard, the chairman of the Anglican group Inclusive Church, which campaigns for female and homosexual bishops, said it was premature to talk about "pendulums swinging back".
He said: "We have got a long way to go yet, we have to achieve full equality which is the removal of barriers to full participation of what I call accidents of birth."
In a wide ranging speech to the Welsh Assembly, the Archbishop also spoke of "spiralling" differences between rich and poor, but warned of the dangers of dependence on the state. He said: "We may bridle, as I sometimes instinctively do, at the way 'welfarism' is used in a derogatory sense these days, because the achievements of public welfare have been enormous.
"Yet there is some substance to that suspicious use of welfarism. There is a problem about dependency, there is a problem about assuming somebody else resolves the problems and there is certainly a problem about centralised state provision as the solution to everything."
