Granted, the Church of England bishops can speak and vote in the House of Lords. Five have an automatic right to sit in the House: after them, the 20 most senior within the Church sit.

Considering that there are 25 CofE bishops sitting in the HofL it is somewhat reassuring to note that the Church is very liberal compared to (say) the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian), or the Church of Rome. But even so, it has an agenda, and 25 members could amount to a significant force within Parliament. However, as there are some 824 members of the House of Lords, the Lords Spiritual combined have just 3% of the voting power, and would need considerable support from the other Lords before they could impose their will on the House.

And it must be remembered that the House of Lords is the second chamber. Any legislation it proposes or amends is subject, ultimately, to the consent of the House of Commons, where the CofE has no representation at all.

Furthermore, bishops of the Church of England are appointed by the Prime Minister, who isn't, but might be, a lesbian atheist in a civil partnership! Or a moslem or jew. Such are the idiosyncrasies of the English Establishment.

It is true that the Lords Spiritual are likely to oppose laws that permit assisted suicide or same-sex marriage, but they won't be the only ones in Parliament to do so. Just as powerful voices outside Parliament will oppose such laws too. The way I see it, the bishops will raise issues that need to be debated, but they will not prevent a change in the law if that is Parliament's will.

Unfortunately, Parliament is unwilling to make its will clear on these issues.