Updated
We reported on the release of the bishops’ letter here. In the days that followed there was a lot of press reports and reactions, listed in daily groups below with the earliest first.
Harriet Sherwood and Toby Helm The Observer Bishops in stinging rebuke to David Cameron over refugee crisis
Harriet Sherwood The Observer How the Church of England and the British government fell out over the ‘moral crisis’ of refugees
BBC News Syria refugees: Bishops urge David Cameron to do more
Nicola Harley The Telegraph Bishops row with David Cameron over offer of help to refugees
The Right Rev David Walker, Bishop of Manchester The Guardian Bishop says European migrant crisis ‘a moral matter’ not political – video
Laura Hughes The Telegraph Conservatives criticise bishops for attack on Syrian refugee policy
Charlie Cooper The Independent Refugee crisis: Church of England attacks Government’s ‘inadequate’ response
Rowena Mason The Guardian Bishops naturally leftwing, suggests minister after plea to take more refugees
Melanie McDonagh The Spectator Cameron should listen to Syrian bishops, not the Anglican ones
Steven Swinford The Telegraph Each Syrian refugee to cost Britain £24,000 a year
Nicholas Watt The Guardian David Cameron rebukes Church of England bishops over refugee letter
BBC News UK aims to take in 1,000 Syrian refugees by Christmas, says PM
Jules Middleton That Bishop’s Letter
Update
Nick Baines Yorkshire Post To portray bishops as anti-Conservative over refugees is ‘wrong, lazy and ridiculous’
[also online here]
Paul Handley Church Times Frustrated bishops call for 30,000 more refugees to be accepted in the UK
Gotta admit, I take a small measure of schadenfreude from seeing bishops who fancy themselves masters of realpolitik schooled by a true master of that dark art.
Once they’ve recovered from the humiliation of Cameron’s tongue-lashing, perhaps the English bishops will consider their words more carefully next time. Piety and politics make ill bedfellows.
“The humiliation of Cameron’s tongue-lashing”? Ooh, I expect they didn’t sleep a wink after that!
If piety doesn’t change the way you see the world and encourages you to become an active participant in the politics of it all, it’s not doing its job.
And Bishops are members of the House of Lords, they have a professional obligation to get involved in politics.
The current Prime Minister seems to be increasingly opting for a Devil-may-care attitude now that he no longer has to lead the Tories into another General Election. This was made manifest at yesterday’s PMQs with his support for further relaxation of Sunday Shopping restrictions.
Let us hope that the bishops turn up in force in the Lords on Monday to oppose the Chancellor’s latest Tax proposals which, if they go ahead next April, will cause much dismay and hardship to the poorest in our society.