Will no one rid us of these Lefty priests?
I wonder if Amanda Platell knows the origins of the phrase she is dogwhistling here?
Well, its the Mail. History isn't their strongpoint, because they like to forget their pro-Hitler support.
It was 1170. The Archbishop of York and the Bishops of Salisbury and London had just crowned Henry II King of England. But this was the traditional responsibility of The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas a'Beckett. As the head of the English Church, he was miffed. He excommunicated all three - sadly, not via zoom call.
What can we say? fucking bishops right?
Now, this calls into question Henry's legitimacy as king. Something you just don't do. Even if you were previous best of bish besties.
So Henry says "Will nobody rid me of this turbulent priest?" And he said it in the days before social media, when cancel culture meant four knights on horseback riding down to Canterbury and cancelling him personally.
Thomas may have been a bit of a Bishopric, but know Henry was going to be known as the sort of king who murders the head of the English church if he gets out of bed funny, which is not a great look.
Those four knights? It didn't go well for them. Henry was all like "I did not say storm the Capitol. You bro's are on your own." and he retired to his golf course in Winchester. So much for Making Plantagenets Great Again.
Net result? THEY got excommunicated, and the Pope exiled them to fight Crusades for fourteen years. Beckett got canonised. Henry went down in history as That Sort Of KIng - on the equivalent of his first day on the job.
And Amanda Platell. There's an argument that she just called for the extra judicial killing of a black priest for the crime of not clapping Captain Tom. Amanda? Even Henry II thinks you are a jerk.