President Trump's intervention in Israel was criticised as "not helpful" by the Archbishop of York today.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Sunday programme about whether a two-state solution in Israel is now impossible in the wake of Donald Trump's decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, Dr John Sentamu said: "I cannot see how you end up with one state. I cannot see how the Palestinians would accept to be under the authority of Israel.... I still want to pray for a two-state solution. I think President Trump's intervention wasn't helpful."

He urged Israel to continue to work hard towards a two-state solution.

But this possibility was "slipping away" he agreed. He said he hoped "sense would dawn again". Finding a way forwards for a Palestinian state, where that Palestinian state responded positively to the fact of Israel's existence, would be a big contribution towards peace in many parts of the world, he added.

The Archbishop also addressed the report on poverty from the Joseph Rowntree foundation that warned that progress in recent years was in danger of being reversed.

"We've been trying our best in relationship to food banks and trying to help those who are poorest," he said. "This is a national scandal," he added, referring to poverty and health issues in Britain in cities and rural areas.

Governments continued to refuse to accept that these issues can only be tackled by raising taxes.

Earlier this year, Dr Sentamu started wearing his clerical collar again, a 19 days short of 10 years since he removed it in protest at the rule of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. He said it was "encouraging so far" that the new President was talking about reconnecting with the Commonwealth and other countries, and stating that the army must not be involved in the election in April.  

In his message of hope for 2018, Dr Sentamu says: "My hope would be to encourage each of us to discover what a loving God has in store, to embrace this and to share it with others.

"God's gift to the world in Jesus Christ is peace, security, justice, hope, forgiveness and joy. The Christian virtue of hope is believing that this is possible, in spite of the evidence and watching the evidence change.

"The evidence across the world seems to be devoid of hope, and yet as a follower of Jesus Christ I know the moment where there appeared to be the least hope: Jesus dying on the cross and buried. Then he rose to new life. Life freely offered to all. God has faith in us."