in the wake of the court decision on the question of Council Prayers, the Bishop of Exeter claimed, right on cue:

"Every time there is a survey of religious beliefs in this country, around 70 percent of the population profess religious faith and will also talk about saying private prayers. We are actually talking about something that still accords with the mood and the outlook of the majority."

The Bish really shoots himself in the foot there, doesn't he?

Private prayers, fine. That's what the vast majority of religious people do in modern Britain. They pray in private because they understand that their faith is a private matter; and they almost certainly appreciate that it is a private matter - because it means nobody can interfere with their belief.

What's that got to do with holding public prayers in a meeting? The "mood and outlook of the majority" in Britain today is that holding private prayers is fine, but holding formal public prayers at a non-religious meeting is inappropriate and, quite frankly, very weird.