Under the influence.

So Bishop Tom says he will not resign. No surprise there. Principled actions are not the forte of the liberal left.

I have to say if I was so drunk as not to remember what I had done the night before I would consider myself unfit to hold church office. If discovered I might face the wrath of the Statutory Committee of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. They hold to the notion that if you get drunk outside of a pharmacy you might get drunk in one.

Butler is the sort of liberal the C of E does not need. When he was in Willesden he supported the pro-homosexual policies of the local Ealing Council. He told a clergyman in Southall not to make a fuss when his housing project for those discharged from mental hospital failed to get Council backing. The Christian trust concerned would not employ practising homosexuals so there was no Council funding. With Butler suppressing the voice of the clergyman, he was told by a leading local Anglican vicar that he has abused his episcopal authority. Canterbury came to the same conclusion when Butler recently refused to ordain two evangelicals.

I think Butler should be on his bike .....assuming he is sober enough to ride. I am not against drinking. I am hoping for refreshment from Scotland this Christmas. But I am for self discipline and church discipline. Butler and the Church of England appear to lack both.