|PIC1|The gloomy economic climate is a “reality check” for a society driven by unsustainable greed, says the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Dr Rowan Williams told Radio 4’s Today programme that the Government’s plans to increase bank lending could be likened to an “addict returning to the drug”.

“It is about what is sustainable in the long term and if this is going to drive us back into the same spin, I do not think that is going to help us,” he said.

Dr Williams also described today’s consumers as “addicts” and urged people to rethink their living habits.

"When the Bible uses the word repentance, it doesn't just mean beating your breast.

“It means getting a new perspective and that is perhaps what we are shrinking away from,” he said.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown later defended the Government’s spending plans by referencing the parable of the good Samaritan.

“I think the Archbishop would also agree with me that every time someone becomes unemployed or loses their home or a small business fails it is our duty to act and we should not walk by on the other side when people are facing problems,” said Mr Brown.

“That’s the reason why our fiscal policy is designed to give real help to families and businesses and to give them that help now.”

In the same interview, Dr Williams said there was a case for the Church of England to relinquish its ties to the state, but that now was not the time.

Asked whether the Church should sever ties now, he replied, “At the moment, no.”

"I believe the church exists because of God, not because of the state," he said.

In a recent interview with New Statesman, Dr Williams clarified his position on disestablishment further.

“My unease about going for straight disestablishment is to do with the fact that it’s a very shaky time for the public presence of faith in society.

"I think the motives that would now drive disestablishment from the state side would be mostly to do with . . . trying to push religion into the private sphere, and that's the point where I think I'd be bloody-minded and say, 'Well, not on that basis.'"

The Church of England is the established Church in England, with the monarch as supreme governor and bishops appointed by the government. There are 26 Church of England bishops in the House of Lords.