The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, is doing what all decent religious figures would be expected to do - rightfully slam the government for the impact their policies are having on the most needy in society.
David Cameron is accusing the Archbishop of expressing political views. There is no question that some of the Archbishop's comments about voter expectations are political, however it is right that a senior religious figure should be speaking up on behalf of those in society less able to participate and articulate their frustrations.
Dr. Williams is the closest thing Mr. Cameron has to an opposition at the moment. Ed Miliband is likeable, but at this week's Prime Minister's Questions, he yet again failed to land as much as a decent strike on the Prime Minister. This is despite a difficult week with justice and NHS reforms and some rather sloppy work by ministers.
And the large bulk of the print media are completely geared to keeping the Tories in power. How Labour are ever able to win elections with such a major chunk of the media constantly against them is a miracle in itself. It is interesting how after a couple of (what should have been) very uncomfortable days for the Prime Minister, the Daily Telegraph has typically intervened with a diversionary tale about the role of Ed Balls in a campaign to remove Tony Blair from Number 10 following the 2005 election.
Timing is everything when it comes to weathering a storm. How much help can one political party get, and what does it say for democracy?
Interestingly, phone hacking is in the news again. It makes you wonder how little of the information newspapers receive is acquired legally. Maybe we should be slower to sympathise with the press the next time they unite to whinge about superinjunctions.
It is taking an Archbishop to oppose the Tories because nobody else is up to doing so. I wonder how many others will follow my lead and receive their news bulletins from the Archbishop of Canterbury in future.
