The home secretary has criticised new Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, for expressing "misleading and selective" political views during his widely-praised Dimbleby lecture.

Last month, Dr Williams argued that the government had a "consumerist" approach to the delivery of policies.

"Government is now heard asking to be judged on its delivery of purchasing power and maximal choice," he argued.

"Voters look for what will guarantee the maximum possible freedom to buy their way out of insecurity."

Writing in the latest issue of the Spectator magazine, David Blunkett praised the "fellow hairy lefty" for his "profound and authoritative voice", but claimed that he had got "important things wrong" during his speech.

"Take education. Teachers do an almost impossible job in areas of deprivation, says the Archbishop. He then criticises the 'market state' for responding to demands for accountability and high standards," he writes.

"Yet the implied damage that this emphasis belied by the transformation of the life chances of children in the very area of South Wales that the Archbishop has ministered to over the last few years. No wonder it was difficult, in his words, to engage them in broader civic or moral values. Communities can grow only if education empowers those within them."

Although Dr Williams was the preferred choice of the prime minister to replace Dr George Carey as Archbishop of Canterbury, there has been tensions between the Church and the state over his criticisms of government policy on Iraq.

"At the end of the day, modern government needs to retain its legitimacy, as Rowan Williams says. But I believe that the very consent that government requires arises from responding to legitimate demands, such as parental choice for a child's education or a genuine second option in the NHS, or, in inner London, access to even the most basic primary heath care facilities," argued Blunkett.

"This is not consumerism in a vacuum but the provision of services that would otherwise have to be purchased within the market economy. Providing such services while helping local communities rebuild themselves is the challenge of the 21st century."