Today’s Times and Telegraph splash on the shock news that the LibDems are calling for the disestablishment of the Church. Ben Brogan reports:

“Someone needs to ask Nick Clegg the obvious follow up to his statement on the case for disestablishment of the Church: will it be a Lib Dem manifesto promise next year, and will it be one of his red lines in negotiations for a Coalition Mk II is the need arises? Presumably, the answer would be no (apologies if it turns out it has been party policy for ages).”

As any student of history knows, disestablishment had been Liberal policy for some 140 years, when Gladstone united his party around the issue of disestablishing the Anglican Church of Ireland. When Gladstone informed parliament of his intentions, it led directly to his defeat at the ensuing general election…