With the Prime Minister's Brexit deal failing for the third time to receive Parliament's blessing and the looming possibility of crashing out the EU without a deal, or a snap general election, or a second referendum, or another series of Parliamentary votes, or a general-purpose popular uprising, or alien intervention, the Church of England has a plan: tea parties.

Churches are being encouraged to host "informal café-style meetings" over the weekend of 30 March "to bring together people of all standpoints and encourage open discussion." The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Justin Welby and John Sentamu, have today backed newly-commissioned resources to invite people to "get together and chat over a cup of tea and pray for our country and our future".

Under the slogan "Together", the packs include specially-chosen Bible passages, prayers and questions designed to prompt conversations. The introductory notes urge participants to have "respect for the integrity of differently held positions, encouraging communities which feel the same about the issues to use their imagination to consider the viewpoints of those who feel differently."