Some thoughts on bishops, politics, church and nation, which I hope are a helpful contribution to the debate. Here goes:

1) Christianity is political. It will always be so. No religion can say both the poor are blessed and that it is the rich who persecute you without being political. Likewise one which says marriage is indissoluble, or that suffering is valuable. We say all these things.

2) So the pastors of the church will always be political, both for themselves and as interpreters of scripture for the wider church.

3) But Christianity is unusual as a major religion that has a developed concept of the 'separation of church and state' - there are roles for the state as promoter of virtue and preventer of vice which scripture allows to any state, Christian or non.

4) So Christianity is not party-political. Leading to some inevitable quandaries for bishops - as William Temple pointed out, it is our Christian duty to say high levels of employment are immoral, and the church's duty not to specify what the political solution should be.

5) This leads to the 'present controversy'. It is right and good bishops call out a figure in public life who appears to be a hypocrite (not to mention, admitted driving offences on TV), and more importantly to point out the lack of humility in contemporary political life.

6) But it is equally right to ask whether this is consistent: do bishops do the same for all such behaviour in political life and in lawmaking? Do they consistently intervene, whether against the left or the right, to critique policy which goes against Christian teaching?

7) There are good reasons for thinking yes: opposing the two child limit on child benefit, same-sex marriage and supporting the Dubs Amendment could be read as a consistent, small-c conservative support for marriage and families (tho FWIW I would not agree with this take on SSM)

8) But there is a serious problem for the church when the college of bishops is almost entirely on one side of a major economic and cultural issue such as Brexit - it affects how we are seen to be consistently non-partisan. And the same could be said for austerity.

9) Now austerity could be heartlessly cruel. And I hate Brexit as much as the next latte-drinking metropolitan elitist. Or at least, as much as any good pan-European, post-war consensus, Christian Democrat. But we know that the majority of professed Anglicans voted for it.

10) Having a bench of bishops that is perceived as consistently left-liberal may be great if you share that perspective. But there are many Christians who don't - and there are good reasons grounded in scripture and tradition for scepticism about liberal modernity.

11) So to conclude: diversity is needed. Not just diversity of backgrounds, but diversity of cultural and political perspective, within a Christian political ethos. We should be comfortable with bishops intervening in public life, but also comfortable with them disagreeing.

And for a final note: I support our bishops in navigating what is a difficult political minefield, and support many of their interventions. Some of the rhetoric directed towards them is appalling, and I have the luxury of not being in their shoes and not having their profile.

So spare a prayer for them, particularly this week.