A bill to remove Church of England Bishops from the House of Lords is currently making its way through Parliament. The House of Lords (Removal of Bishops) Bill was introduced by Liberal Democrat peer Lord (Dick) Taverne, and was drafted…
The unanimous judgment in the Supreme Court that Parliament is not and never has been prorogued, and that the advice of the Prime Minister to the Queen was "unlawful, void…
Today is the Feast Day of St Boris (really). And today Boris Johnson kisses hands with the Queen (not the hand of the Queen) to become the 55th person to…
"The concept of our established Church is occasionally misunderstood and, I believe, commonly under-appreciated," the Queen said in a speech at Lambeth Palace in 2012. "Its role is not to…
The last time Royal Assent was withheld from a parliamentary bill was in the wake of the union of England and Scotland in 1707/8, when Queen Anne declined to support…
Theresa May is undoubtedly a intelligent lady: not only is she an educational and political high-achiever – and only the second woman to succeed to the Office of Prime Minister…
While the Church of England was preparing to lead the nation in a corporate commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day 1918, the National Secular Society issued a tweet.…
His Grace The Most Rev'd and Rt Hon Dr John Sentamu, Lord Archbishop of York, has announced that he will retire from his post on 7th June 2020, three days…
If it had been called 'Tea & Chapatis' no-one would have batted an eyelid. But the meal had an upper-case Islamic name – Iftar – and it involved Arabic food:…
Never in the history of royalty has a monarch reached a 70th wedding anniversary. A few have come quite near, but that coveted Platinum milestone is reached today for the…
"Media seem to be going for gay sex and Queen funeral angles in my @BritishGQ interview with @JustinWelby," tweet-gripes Tony Blair's former spinmeister Alastair Campbell, " - loads more in…
When in 1587 Pope Sixtus V began conspiring with King Philip II of Spain in 'The Enterprise of England', it was the world's most powerful religious leader giving his blessing…
After a conversation instigated by officials at Buckingham Palace, it is with regret that the Rev'd Dr Gavin Ashenden – theologian, academic, columnist and occasional contributor to this blog –…
In this 500th anniversary year of an obscure monk called Martin Luther banging his 95 Theses onto the door of Castle Church in Wittenburg, the event which history marks as…
By popular democratic consensus (which some may term 'populism') Daniel McArthur has been chosen as the most inspirational Christian of 2016. The swell of nominations received for him eclipsed those…
This is a guest post by the Rev’d Dr Gavin Ashenden, Chaplain to the Queen. __________________________ One of the many reasons I like twitter is for the jokes. “Why should…
Goodness! My head is in a complete spin: on the one hand, the Prime Minister tells us we are far, far safer remaining in the Zollverein where unicorns roam…
Goodness! There we were at breakfast, heads stuck in the Sundays (and me fiddling with my soldiers) when my Lord the Bishop exploded. “Just look at this!” he exclaimed,…