The archbishop of Canterbury has denounced David Cameron's "big society", saying that it comes across as aspirational waffle that was "designed to conceal a deeply damaging withdrawal of the state from its responsibilities to the most vulnerable". The outspoken attack on the prime minister's flagship policy by Rowan Williams <http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/rowan-williams> – his strongest to date – is contained in a new book, *Faith in the Public Square,* that is being prepared for publication ahead of his retirement in December. Passages from the book, obtained by the *Observer*, reflect the archbishop's deep frustration not just with the policies of Cameron's government and those of its Labour predecessors, but also with what he sees as the west's rampant materialism and unquestioning pursuit of economic growth. Williams also laments spiralling military expenditure, writing that "the adventure in Iraq and its cost in any number of ways seems to beggar the imagination". -- Steve Harrington