Lords Lament Lambeth

You have to love the British sense of humor! Martin Beckford reports the follow exchange in the House of Lords.

The poor old Lambeth Conference, lying unloved in Canterbury after being boycotted by a quarter of Anglican bishops, has just taken a kicking in the House of Lords.

In an enivronment debate the Bishop of Chester - the Rt Rev Peter Forster - referred to the sizeable amounts of carbon dioxide likely to be emitted by the gathering of more than 600 church leaders.

"Will the Chairman of Committees express sympathy for all Members on the Bishops' Bench who are at the Lambeth Conference over the next two weeks, because of its carbon footprint?" he asked.

But the chairman, Lord Brabazon of Tara, couldn't resist an opportunity to have a dig at the ongoing crises in the church and shot back: "If that were all that I was expected to express sympathy for in the Lambeth Conference, that would be easy to do. But I gather that it has other problems."

For those of us who are covering the conference, at which no decisions are likely to be made nor any differences resolved, it's not the carbon emissions which cause concern so much as the amount of hot air being generated.

Source: Telegraph