Roy Hattersley calls for disestablishment

Last Monday Lord Carey of Clifton — the former Archbishop of Canterbury — told The Times that if Parliament insisted that all adoption agencies must end discrimination against gay couples, the Church of England should demand to be disestablished. What a good idea! And how refreshing that a retired primate, not notable during his years in office for intellectual originality, should promote such a progressive notion in so elegant a fashion. By arguing that Parliament has a duty to respond to the demands of the Church that is its constitutional partner, he provided a vivid example of why the partnership should be dissolved. Read more