Church's final no to women bishops However, there were warnings that it threatens a crisis of morale in parishes, especially among women clergy. Supporters of the plans lined up during the debate at the General Synod to warn that it would be a "suicide" for the Church's "mission" in society to reject the measure in the face of strong support. But delegates were swayed by strong arguments that a hard-fought compromise clause would not be enough to prevent traditionalists from leaving. The clause would have allowed parishes to opt out of the authority of a female bishop and request a male alternative. About 900 of the Church's 13,000 parishes were thought likely to take up the offer, although opponents said the arrangement did not offer them enough legal safeguards. One speaker likened the prospect of passing the measure without stronger safeguards to the Great Ejection of 1662, when nonconformists left the Church because of doctrinal differences. There will now almost certainly be calls in Parliament for the Church of England's exemption from equality legislation - effectively allowing it to discriminate against women by barring them from becoming bishops - to be removed, opening the way for women to bring a legal challenge. If successful, it could lead to women becoming bishops without any of the arranged safeguards for traditionalists agreed by Synod. Opponents of the ordination of women bishops said they would now sit down with Bishop Welby to try to find a way forward. But under the Church's rules, the no-vote has effectively killed off the prospect of women bishops for another five years. Ben Bradshaw, a former Labour minister, said: "This means the Church is being held hostage by an unholy and unrepresentative alliance of conservative evangelicals and conservative Catholics. This will add to clamour for disestablishment, there is even talk of moves in Parliament to remove the Church's exemption from the Equality Act. It is likely to undermine the Church's pitch to halt Government plans for same-sex marriage. The Rev Canon Robert Cotton said: "We have made David Cameron's job getting gay marriage through much easier - why should he take the Church of England seriously when it seems interested only in looking after its own?" The Rev Canon Rosie Harper, a leading campaigner for women bishops, said: "It's quite hard not to take it personally. I think institutionalised discrimination will continue and this is very bad news for the Church of England.  During the debate, Bishop Welby warned of the consequences of a failure to deal with "difference." Dr Williams had warned the Synod against "binding the extraordinary energies and talents" of his successor with many more years of bitter wrangling. Dr Williams said: "Of course I hoped and prayed that this particular business would be at another stage before I left, and of course it is a personal sadness, a deep personal sadness that that is not the case." Fr David Houlding, of the Anglo-Catholic group Forward in Faith, said the "inevitable" happened but "there are no winners." The Rev Rod Thomas, of the evangelical group Reform, said: "It is very good news. We have avoided what could have been a disastrous mistake.