In my early years of ministry in the Methodist Church, the call to “dare to be a Daniel” was instilled in me personally by Tony Benn (“Prophets, kings and power”, 22 March). We wrote to each other many times over the years. It was profound to be taught of his Nonconformist tradition, his knowledge of the life of Jesus of Nazareth and his views in relation to the prophets, priests and kings. He did believe in the prophets but he taught me also they are there to keep a check on kings and the priests. Like in the times of Jesus, he told me that sometimes the priestly can hide ­malice behind masks of virtue so the prophets were important in the life of faith and society. Jesus suffered great malice and smears at the hands of leaders of religion. Religious realms ca