The Church of England is to consider dropping the title ‘Reverend’ for its clergy as part of efforts to stop child abuse. The form of address, used for more than 500 years, must go because it encourages deference to clergy and helps abusers cover up their crimes, the Church’s parliament is to be told. A decision to abandon ‘Reverend’, together with variants such as ‘Right Reverend’ for a bishop and ‘Venerable’ for an archdeacon, would be the latest radical move in culture wars that have seized the CofE in recent months. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, has said some statues and memorials linked to slavery ‘will have to come down’.