On February 15, it was announced that Archbishop Welby had barred same-sex spouses from attending the Lambeth Conference, a once-a-decade meeting of global Anglican church leaders that is set to go ahead in 2020.

The decision to bar same-sex spouses appears intended to suppress dissent from anti-LGBT+ church leaders within the Anglican Communion, which faces an increasingly fractious split between LGBT-inclusive and anti-LGBT+ churches around the world.

However, Justin Welby is facing sustained criticism for the decision after his representatives claimed it “would be inappropriate for same-sex spouses to be invited.”

Condemning the Archbishop’s stance, Paul Bayes, Bishop of Liverpool, said he would leave his wife at home in solidarity with gay bishops.

The Bishop, a strong supporter of LGBT+ rights, said: “I deeply regret that in the fractious complexities of our life as a worldwide people this act of exclusion has taken its place.

“It is a grief to me and to my wife, and to many others. Despite this, I aim to attend the Conference, alone, in the hope of a common future.”

Wes Streeting, Gay Labour MP, slammed Welby for the decision, tweeting: “Deliberately excluding same-sex couples in this way brings shame on our Church – and on you.”

I’m not sure how you plan to address ‘hurts and concerns’ by inflicting them, @JustinWelby? Deliberately excluding same-sex couples in this way brings shame on our Church – and on you. pic.twitter.com/mItgZnzAS0

— Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) February 26, 2019

He was joined by a fellow out Labour MP, Ben Bradshaw, who branded the decision “wholly retrograde the unacceptable.”

In a tweet to Welby, Bradshaw wrote: “How can you hope to move forward with an attitude like this?”

Welby has not responded to any criticism of the decision to bar gay spouses from the £4,950-a-head event.

The summit is due to be held at the University of Kent’s Canterbury campus in July 2020.

Neither the University of Kent nor the Archbishop of Canterbury returned a request for comment.

The official website for the conference states: “The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is sending personal invitations to every eligible bishop and spouse (excluding same-sex spouses) and that is looking forward immensely to hosting them.”

In a 2017 interview with GQ, Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, warned that divides on LGBT+ issues were “irreconcilable” and admitted he had handled the issue poorly.