Terry Sanderson quotes Gordon Brown’s green paper on the governance of Britain:
“The government reaffirms its commitment to the position of the Church of England by law established, with the sovereign as its supreme governor, and the relationship between the church and state. The government greatly values the role played by the church in national life in a range of spheres.”
I have no issue with the Church of England retaining an official role as a branch of the National Trust, responsible for the care and maintenance of historic buildings. Beyond this, established religion is at best an anachronism and at worst an affront to those who don’t subscribe to it. ((And this will be even more true if they push through their GEP – Gay Expulsion Plan.))
Having said all this, my guess is that this issue intimately depends on the Queen; that she has put her foot down, and promised a constitutional crisis if the government touches the disestablishment issue. I expect that it’s going to have to wait until she’s out of the picture – I can’t imagine Charles or William making a big deal of it. (If, indeed, there is a monarchy after this – how about “The Queen is dead, long live the republic”?)