Britain’s conservatives have reacted to talk of ending the privileges of Britain’s minority Anglicans with the horror stories that have long characterised their resistance to the application of democratic principles to Britain’s feudal constitution.
Conservative party shadow justice secretary Nick Herbert said that disestablishment of the Church of England would be “constitutional vandalism”. An editorial in the Telegraph newspaper alleged that the reform would amount to the dismantlement of “our predominant culture in order to accommodate other faiths”. It claimed that ending the undemocratic and unjust privileges of the church would “be nightmarishly complex”. Constitutional reform was desirable “only when absolutely necessary” the newspaper said.
The conservative uproar followed a statement by Rowan Williams, the church’s head bishop, that disestablishment would not mean “the end of the world”. He later made clear that he was not advocating this reform. His objection to disestablishment seems to be a fear that it would “push religion into the private sphere”. Another church spokesperson claimed that the Anglicans were performing a “service to the nation”.
Reform, an Anglican evangelical group was more confident about the future of its church when it loses its privileges. It said disestablishment would be “welcomed by many” in the church.
The Telegraph also admitted that “a growing chorus of voices is calling” for the church to lose its privileges. It reported one MP as saying that “the vast majority” of Labour MPs would support disestablishment.
Before becoming archbishop of Canterbury Williams said that having Britain’s hereditary head of state as “supreme governor” of his church had “outlived its usefulness”. However when he later became a candidate for archbishop he declared that disestablishment was “not at the top of the agenda”.
Williams was formerly a bishop of the Church of Wales, which is not an established church. The Financial Times pointed out that attendance at churches in Wales compares very favourably with that in England. It also noted that despite the American proscription of an established religion, church-going is much higher than in England. The newspaper half-joked that in England “state ownership and protectionism have led to underperformance and a sub-optimal outcome” for the Anglicans. “Let competition rule” it concluded.
Church of England bishops sit with other unaccountable legislators, including hereditary legislators, in the House of Lords. Conservatives long resisted reform of that undemocratic institution for reasons similar to those for which they now object to justice for the non-Anglican majority.