Something has gone badly wrong with the Established Church when it appears more indignant at the breaking of social distance rules than the ruining of two marriages by the same politician. On Sunday’s GB News morning show even the unflappable Nigel Farage was unusually wide eyed when the Bishop of Manchester, Rt Rev David Walker, remarked of the now disgraced Matt Hancock:
‘So, I think I’m more worried about the fact that he failed to keep social distancing than I am about the fact that here is a middle-aged bloke having a bit of a fling.’
To be fair to bishop David, when pushed by Farage that the Church should surely supply more leadership on the subject of adultery, he did add that such behaviour was in the order of serious betrayal.
But the bishop’s interview also pointed to a stranger phenomenon taking place inside the Church of England: the way Covid compliance has become an article of faith.
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