Bradford Council leader Ian Greenwood is quite correct when he criticises suggestions that the Church of England diocese for Bradford should be subsumed into a larger “super-diocese”.

As the fourth-largest metropolitan district in the country, with a population of half a million, Bradford should certainly retain its own diocese.

Having just made a high-profile appointment of a new Bishop in the shape of Nick Baines, who will be joining in the spring, it seems nonsensical to even still be talking about merging Bradford with neighbouring dioceses.

Scrapping the Bradford diocese would send the wrong signals out to Christians about the importance of their faith and its place in today’s multicultural society.

Bradford has a long tradition of having its own diocese and there is evidence that people worshipped on the site of what is now Bradford Cathedral as long ago as the seventh century AD.

The proposal to merge Bradford is still at the consultation stage, but it seems to be a suggestion that has not won many fans, nor one that is obviously beneficial in any way.

Bradford is proud of all facets of its heritage, and its long history of Christian worship is one of those facets that should be celebrated and built upon, not relegated to a bit-player as part of a wider, regional re-organisation.