The Archbishop of Canterbury

I doubt 26 could have much influence over 800 members

The Bishops are free of party politics and can say what they feel is right. True 26 out of 800 is not very many but they are well respected and listened to.

I do agree that government should be secular but it should also have humanity and compassion.

I agree Cindersdad . Seems the good done by christians is easily forgotten, William Wilberforce. Elizabeth Fry, Dr Barnardo , so many

All ArchBishops dabble in politics and always have done,
As long as they are not unduly influencing the government of the day ( I don't mean merely trying to) then that's alright.

Better late than never I suppose.

Some years ago a friend of mine, on election day, was on his way to the polling station when he met the local vicar. He told him that he couldn't decide how to vote, and the vicar said "you can't be a Christian and conservative"

I'm not sure what I think about this. Was the vicar right? Even if he was right, should he have said it?

There are Christian Conservatives and Christian Socialists.

If he believed it then yes he should say it. It wasn't in confession

I thought the Church of England used to be called the Conservative Party at prayer

Many believe Christ was the first socialist, his teachings have guided me to socialism but I know lovely people who are Christian and conservative, Christian and liberal, never met a UKIP priest.

We can't and in my opinion forget Dr Donald Soper, pacifist, Methodist preacher and socialist

The Anglican Church is a mix

in the last century ministers and priests told their congregations WHO to vote for from the pulpit on a Sunday ,it wasn't unusual certainly in Ireland and in the West of Scotland ,and the political divide became a religious divide too,Catholics voted Labour ,protestants voted Conservative and Unionist.To some extent it still happens here with the Orange Order being the most vocal of Conservative voices ....as the DUP are in NI ..same roots

Not the same here in England though Paddyann and that may have been the case in Ireland and Scotland years ago, but now people are not subservient and will vote for who they choose.

26 may not be many but why should they have any say at all in anything involving Scotland?
C of E is not the established church here.

The Church in Wales is disestablished and Wales is much more under the thumb of England than Scotland is , our Arch Bidhop doesn't sit in the lords

Given that Wales also has devolved powers I wonder why issues like this haven't been pushed harder (think EVEL ). All about higher priorities I guess.
Mind you the fiasco of Brexit looks like an opportunity for Westminster to attempt to grab back some of those devolved powers.

Doesn't trouble me, I am glad the bishops do sit there , I am quite sure they will speak for all not just for English anglicans. They are part of the world wide Church

I have every sympathy with the point of view of the vicar in your story, varian.

There may be wonderful individuals within the tory party who live by their christian principles but, as a whole, the Party itself has always seemed to me to be completely at odds with the second of Christ's commandments. 'Love thy neighbour as thyself...'

But this is not a Christian country, it just happens to have some Christians living here

If this is not a Christian country, and the very low levels of church attendance seem to show that, how can we justify giving preferential treatment to the CoE?

I expect that will change with a change on government . I never had a problem with Methodist Donald Soper speaking there, as a Christian I naturally want the Christian views put forward

Dr Soper was appointed to the House of Lords because he was regarded as a person who would make a valuable contribution to debates, which he certainly did. He did not get there automatically because he was a bishop in an established church.

I'm not at all sure any Anglican bishop would speak for Scotland. The C of E is not a significant entity north of the border and I find these high church clerics totally alien.

Depends what you mean by speak for Scotland