So, Blackburn Cathedral hosted a Palestine talk which preached scorn on Israel and which, by all accounts, was a one-sided affair which failed to mention that Palestine is a terrorist state which wishes to see the only Middle-Eastern democracy wiped off the face of the earth and constantly attacks Israel with bombs and threats.

In my opinion Israel’s response thus far has been more than restrained and we, as Israel’s ally, should be fully supporting the strong, decisive and necessary action being taken.

I hope the Bishop of Blackburn and the Cathedral authorities will invite Israeli representatives to keep the argument balanced?

Or is this another example of the Bishop straying into politics where he is ill-informed and most certainly unwelcome.

If he is not seemingly supporting states with questionable political ideologies, he is harping on about the fiction of man-made global warming – two issues which are as far out of his parochial remit as could be possible I would argue.

I would suggest, as I have done before, that the Bishop of Blackburn and the Cathedral keep well out of political activities and stick to Anglican theology and the teachings of Christ.

Church numbers are dwindling, agnosticism and atheism spreading: Surely any bishop worth his salt would be more concerned about these things, rather than pursuing his own quasi-political agenda.

By all means let him stand for elected office – but using his ecclesiastical title to attempt to follow his, frankly dubious, political dictum is, I am afraid entirely unacceptable.

Simon Wilkinson Address supplied