Boris has Gordon Brown to thank for his bishop troubles

Bishops are in the news at the moment. They have outraged No. 10 with their opposition to the policy of deporting potential asylum seekers and other migrants to Rwanda. Government ministers are said to be muttering darkly about evicting the Bishops from the House of Lords, effectively disestablishing the Church of England in revenge.

This has been a long time coming, with the Bench of Bishops developing a worrying uniformity of political and theological opinion – all of a soft-left, soft-evangelical manner. The most startling example of this is the way in which a significant majority of Anglicans supported Brexit while one – only one – bishop, out of 113, did. This can also be seen in pretty much any major policy area today, and it clearly irritates this Conservative government. What this Conservative administration seems to have missed is that all but six of the offending bishops have been appointed by Conservative prime ministers since 2010.