Letters: Let the King choose the Archbishop of Canterbury

Spectator

2 days ago

Supreme idea
Sir: My colleague Fergus Butler-Gallie is right about the deficiencies of the Church of England's system for filling the See of Canterbury ('Canterbury fail', 12 July). May I make a modest proposal? Place untrammelled power of appointment in the hands of the sovereign.
If there be no providence in Anglican polity we should become Catholics or dissenters. But if we think God is still working his purpose out through the Church by law established, we should have the courage of that conviction. Qualms about monarchs shaping the Church? It was Cyrus who brought the people of Israel back to Judea. We probably would not have the Nicene Creed without Constantine's muscular intervention. And it cuts both ways: remember who puts the crown on the King's head.
God can use less benign institutions than the monarchy for good purposes. At any rate surely nobody thinks His Majesty, the Church's Supreme Governor, could do a worse job than the Crown Nominations Commission. And it would be quick.
The Revd Joshua Rey, Vicar of Roehampton
London SW15
Cross purposes
Sir: Father Butler-Gallie should not be too distressed by the omnishambles surrounding the long-winded selection of the next Archbishop. The Church of England survives despite its prelates, not because of them. That witty Anglican monk and liturgical scholar, Dom Gregory Dix, said he was never sure when attending an episcopal consecration whether the huddle of clergy around the candidate was conferring the gift of the Holy Ghost or pulling out his backbone. And he suggested it might be significant that the sign of a bishop is a crook, and that the symbol of an archbishop is a double-cross.
Francis Bown
London E3
Slowly but surely
Sir: Roger Lewis's account of an OAP coach trip ('Life in bottom gear', 12 July) reads like a gently mocking obituary for energy and ambition: all flasks, bus passes and slow progress eastward. But behind the tartan rugs and scheduled toilet stops lies something far more vital. After 60 years organising Sunday tea parties for older people, I've seen how such outings offer companionship, purpose and laughter to those who live alone. They are not retreats from life, but brief returns to it. Smile at their slowness if you will – but it's often the only thing moving in their lonely lives.
Trevor Lyttleton MBE
Founder and Chair 1965-2015 Contact the Elderly (Now 'Re-engage')
London NW11
Towering example
Sir: Your two pages of reflections (12 July) upon Norman Tebbit do him justice. After news of his death I stood outside his final home in the historic quarter of Bury St Edmunds. Yards away stands the eponymous Norman Tower, straddling the view at the end of his street. It radiates strength, purpose, solidity, resistance, all characteristics of Lord Tebbit. Where today in parliament is a person of such qualities?
Brian Emsley
Kennett, Cambridgeshire
Peer into the future
Sir: I was glad to see Lord Moore recognise that removing the hereditary peers is an oblique attack on the monarchy ('End of the peer show', 12 July). If we are serious about retaining a king we must argue to keep, or reintroduce, hereditary peers. The main obstacle, as I see it, is primogeniture. If women naturally inherited the titles as the first born, mirroring the Succession to the Crown Act, then much of the '21st century' argument would fall away.
Jack Ruddy
Hove, Sussex
Law unto themselves
Sir: Your issue this week contains an advertisement from the police asking us to support their pay claim. It also contains an article by Douglas Murray on the arguably wrongful arrest of a counter-protestor ('My tips to avoid arrest by the Met', 12 July). The police are completely out of touch with public feeling. If they want public support, they must admit that much of their policy today is wrong and needs to be completely changed. Not only must they back down over the incident Murray describes and many others like it, they must also totally reform their attitude to motorists.
Michael Gorman
Guildford, Surrey
Healthy scepticism
Sir: As a fellow Actonian I have followed (not in a stalker sense) and admired Toby Young for many years, but have never before known him to be paradoxical. Over recent years his Spectator column has revealed a healthy concern over the use of experimental medicines in the absence of long-term safety data, and only a few weeks ago a steadfast aversion to consuming food his wife has cooked with a black spatula, for fear of it causing cancer. But this week, in an enigmatic volte-face, we learn he has embraced a popular brand of weight loss injections, despite a number of signals reported even in the non-conspiratorial mainstream media of adverse side effects including death ('My sober assessment of the fat jabs', 12 July). I can only ask: who are you and what have you done with our beloved Lord Young?
Robert Morley
London W3
Stuck in the middle
Sir: Madeline Waluigi Grant is right to praise the existence of middle names ('Notes on…', 12 July). However I would caution any parents-to-be from taking the additional step of choosing to use the offspring's middle name as their primary name. A lifetime of administrative hassle is the inevitable consequence.
(John) William Hern
Maidenhead, Berkshire