Bishop laments 'stone throwing' over MPs' expenses scandal

As the MPs expenses scandal continues to rumble on, a Church of England bishop has criticised the "drip drip" of leaked revelations as "an invitation to participate in a ritual humiliation".

The comments were made by the Rt Rev Clive Gregory, Bishop of Wolverhampton, in a pastoral letter published in August parish magazines throughout the Diocese of Lichfield.

In his letter, he describes his initial reaction as being appalled at both the laxity of the expenses regime and the large number of MPs who had taken advantage of the system. He adds, however, that this changed as the coverage continued to leak out over a period of weeks.

"The unmasking of the expenses scandal has felt less and less like an exercise in holding to account our democratically elected representatives and increasingly like an invitation to participate in a ritual humiliation," he said. "And, as the treatment of many reality show contestants proves, we seem as a society to do ritual humiliation very well at present."

He recalled the biblical account of Jesus telling a baying mob that the person without sin should cast the first stone when they wanted to stone a woman caught in adultery.

"Moral majorities are easy to mobilise. They are reassuring to be a part of too," he said. "Some people think that churches consist of squads of morality police, eager to point the finger, throw a stone. But of course the opposite should be true. As Jesus said 'I came not to call the righteous but sinners'."

He said the starting point for Christian discipleship was a "profound sense of our human weakness and an acknowledgement of our radical dependence on God’s grace if we are to lead lives worthy of our calling".

"I started the summer happily lining up with the stone throwers, and I still believe that the targets were legitimate," said the bishop. "It’s just that somewhere along the way I saw a figure writing words in the sand and I lost the will to propel the stones or keep the company of my fellow accusers."