Keeping the Anglican lid on

Lambeth is proving to be a difficult reporting task for the journalists gathered here. There's a big blue tent at the centre of the action, seating up to a thousand people, where plenary sessions are held. The press are not permitted entry. Yesterday, I asked security if I could take a look inside the tend at the end of a session, and I was told that this would be impossible. The tend is entirely surrounded by temporary security gates, with guards at the main entrances. A mobile CCTV police van is nearby, and uniformed police are patrolling the campus. It is rumoured that security have been given a photograph of Bishop Gene Robinson just in case he tries to enter the tent during a plenary or worship session.

I suggested to some of my press colleagues yesterday that it was easier to get information about what was happening behind the scenes of the Northern Ireland peace negotiations. There were sympathetic sighs all round.

Ruth Gledhill of The Times write this on her blog: "All journalists here have been learning a fair bit about exclusion at this conference. At The Times, myself and a number of senior editorial staff received numerous emails from Results UK, the group behind the main speakers at the HIV/TB self-select group at the conference, asking us to attend. They were desperate for us to report it. But we could not because we were not allowed in. One bishop told me that about eight bishops did manage to find the obscure venue to which the extremely high-powered guest speakers were invited. So I guess these bishops will manage to spread this important message back home in their eight dioceses. It would have been nice to be able to help though to write about some of the good work the conference is going. More than 650 bishops here and a world waiting to hear them... shame they don't want the secular and Church press here to tell that story."