Headlines that greeted the Church of England’s pre-election message – “Bishops’ political plea irks Tories”; “Tory fury over Church of England letter” – were a reminder of how tense relations can be between clerics and government. Similar stories were written last year after Archbishop Vincent Nichols, on the eve of his installation as cardinal took issue with David Cameron over welfare reforms destroying a basic safety net, which Nichols said was “a disgrace”. These contretemps are but blips compared to the spectacular fallout between bishops and the Thatcher Government in 1985, when the Church of England published “Faith in the City”. This report, with its damning analysis that economic and spiritual poverty in Brit