Corbyn courts the churches, but Labour loathes Christianity
Can you imagine what it must be like to be a Labour MP at the moment? It’s like the scruffy kid at school who doesn’t make friends easily and…
Ed Miliband
Corbyn and charisma: where there is no vision, the people get no credit
There’s no denying that Jeremy Corbyn has a curiously charismatic air about him. If he had not scraped into the Labour leadership contest, would we have seen those tens of thousands paying £3 to cast their votes? Even after…
Jeremy Corbyn is crowned Labour leader – it's the prayer wot won it
Archbishop Cranmer: "Please, Lord, please let Jeremy Corbyn win the Labour Party leadership. Pleeeeeease." It was a frivolous intercession made in the Prayer Room (at the bottom of the Homepage)…
If the BBC is "our cultural NHS", it's another state religion
According to Shadow Culture Secretary Chris Bryant, the BBC is the nation’s "cultural NHS". He said it to the Royal Television Society, and wrote it for HuffPo UK. And…
Does any Labour leadership candidate have something positive to say about Christianity?
Now that the Liberal Democrats have been left to their own devices to elect a new leader, the attention inevitably turns to Labour and their continued attempts to find…
Tim Farron 'clarifies' his Christian convictions in pursuit of LibDem leadership
There is no doubt that Christian representation in Parliament came out well in this General Election. A handful of prominent Christians including Simon Hughes, Douglas Alexander and Jim Murphy…
The way the Church does politics is largely ineffective
This is a guest post by the Rev'd Stephen Heard – Assistant Priest at St Mark's Church, Enfield. He is a former civil servant with a background in political and…
How could a Christian vote for visionless, regressive incompetence?
It has always been the case on social media that left-wing Christians make a louder noise than those to the right, usually along the lines of: 'How could a Christian vote…
If Labour wins, Islamophobia will become a crime and truth stifled
This is a guest post by the Rev'd Canon Dr Gavin Ashenden – author, theologian and Chaplain to the Queen (one of c35) ___________________ I had never heard of the…
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive the politicians who trespass against us
Trust – or more precisely the lack of it – has arguably been the defining theme of this General Election. This was plainly demonstrated during last week’s BBC Question…
Phantoms of a Labour-SNP opera
If the polls are to be believed (and they are variable and conflicting, to say the least), the Conservative Party is looking to be unlikely to command a majority…
Trident is the price we pay for peace and national security
In their Pastoral Letter (remember that?) “to the people and parishes of the Church of England for the General Election 2015″, the House of Bishops called for a "real…
#PastoralLetter (4): sowing old seeds cannot produce "new politics"
Having responded to the Preface of the Pastoral Letter from the House of Bishops “to the people and parishes of the Church of England for the General Election 2015″;…
If we can 'pardon' past convictions for gross indecency, why not heresy?
The Royal Pardon is usually reserved for those who, having once been convicted of a criminal act, are subsequently discovered to have been innocent of the offence and so…
Climate change is not simply an issue of ecology, but also of injustice
This is a guest post by Joe Ware - Christian Aid's Church and Campaigns Journalist. _______________________ This week we witnessed a minor political miracle. Less than three months from what…
#PastoralLetter (1): The patronising episcopal 'should'
There are only two possible outcomes at the next General Election: either David Cameron will be Prime Minister, or Ed Miliband. Nigel Farage will not be Prime Minister; nor…
"Tory fury" over Church of England letter is a confected Tory tantrum
Each day when Parliament is sitting, the Duty Bishop in the House of Lords prays that the House should “Lay aside all private interests, prejudices and partial affections”, so…
Rochester & Strood: the Christian case for supporting Mark Reckless
According to the latest opinion polls on the wacky race for Rochester & Strood, the suave, educated, cultured and erudite Peter Perfect Mark Reckless is blazing ahead for Ukip,…
Palestinian statehood: the hypocrisy of Labour's three-line whip
We know how the argument goes. If you oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state, you are a bigoted Zionist who perpetuates suffering and injustice through illegal occupation. If…
Shock! Justin Welby admits that he believes in God
This is of course a ridiculous headline, but what makes it ridiculous? There are plenty of people who don't believe in God after all. We make assumptions all of the…