Democracy

Bercow: all Brexit options must lead to the Treaty of Rome

Following last week's 'indicative votes' to determine what sort of Brexit Parliament is for (as opposed to what it is against), yesterday's 'indicative votes – the sequel' yielded four more againsts: Motion (C) Customs union got 273 with 276 against;…

Welby to MPs: ‘Respect the vote of the people and unite our country’

March 28, 2019
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By their 'indicative votes' ye shall know them. Last night MPs tried to determine what, if anything, they preferred to Theresa May's 'deal', and they said 'no' to everything. Motion…

Church of England’s Brexit prayers – what exactly do they mean?

March 5, 2019
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A few months ago the Archbishop of York issued a Brexit prayer, or, rather, 'A Prayer for Parliament in Time of Brexit Trouble'. It was a fairly benign effort which…

Theresa May Dominic Grieve Brexit sacred duty

The divine right of Dominic Grieve and the ‘sacred duty’ to prevent Brexit

February 18, 2019
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"My right honourable friend the Prime Minister talks about her sacred duty over Brexit," declared former Attorney General Dominic Grieve in the Valentine's Day debate on the UK's withdrawal from…

Bercow, Brexit, conspiracy and coup: the inescapable feeling of betrayal

January 13, 2019
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The most difficult controversies are those in which both sides have a point. Two well known historic examples come to mind. The English Civil War was contended on multiple controversies,…

Happy Brexit Year: control the language, control the argument

December 31, 2018
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"An ennui hangs over British politics and the prime minister is depending on it", wrote Matthew Parris in the Times a few days ago. "Like a thin, wearisome fog it…

Brexit impasse: democracy can be messy – but the alternative is terrifying

December 12, 2018
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'And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee' (1Sam 8:7). It might not end well, but never let…

Lowering the voting age to six isn’t a bad idea: it would give the family its rightful electoral status

December 7, 2018
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Prof David Runciman (Cambridge University) is of the view that an ageing population is creating a democratic crisis: the views of those beneath the age of 18 – the current…

The People’s Vote strategy is to goad Brexiteers with being frit

July 27, 2018
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"The right hon. Gentleman is afraid of an election, is he?" goaded Margaret Thatcher. "Afraid? Frightened? Frit?" she persisted, with perfectly alliterative thrashings of her serrated tongue. "Could not take…

Brexit: the Bishop of Leeds asks “What’s it all for?” as he condemns the corruption of public discourse

January 31, 2018
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The Bishop of Leeds the Rt Rev'd Nick Baines delivered a measured and thoughtful speech in the House of Lords on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill. His theme was basically the…

Archbishop of Canterbury urges Brexit Christmas truce

December 15, 2017
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"We go back 103 years, we find at Christmas 1914 there was a ceasefire," the Archbishop of Canterbury reminded us in a BBC interview from Lambeth Palace. "It would be…

Welby: “I really, genuinely do not understand” Christian support for Trump

November 28, 2017
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The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was interviewed by Robert Peston on Sunday. He spoke about the British economic model, economic justice, investment, skills, apprenticeships, automation, robotics, AI, equality for…

Why is the Bishop of Liverpool fomenting Brexit discord?

November 14, 2017
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As Parliament sets its face to debating the seismic European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, along with a plethora of nuanced amendments, many of which are designed to frustrate the process if…

Bishop “ashamed” that the UK voted to leave the EU

July 2, 2017
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Bishop David Gillett was the Bishop of Bolton for nine years, and before that he was Principal of Trinity Theological College in Bristol for 11 years. He is now an…

You cannot “draw the poison from Brexit” without extracting deception from the human heart

June 25, 2017
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'Where there is no vision, the people perish', the Archbishop of Canterbury writes in the Mail on Sunday, reminding is that the Authorised Version still resonates down the ages, and…

Government is a necessary evil, and Christians must vote for the lesser one

June 7, 2017
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"Society in every state is a blessing," wrote Thomas Paine in his 1776 pamphlet Common Sense, "but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its…

Christian parliamentary candidate in Bradford excluded from Muslim only election hustings

May 17, 2017
528 Comments

George Grant is the Conservative Party's parliamentary candidate in Bradford West. He also happens to be a Christian, and is thereby excluded from Bradford's Muslim Women's Council General Election hustings,…

Sorry, left-wing clergy, but God supports strong and stable government

May 10, 2017
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A gaggle of left-wing clergy is a tad upset that the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have used their General Election 'Pastoral Letter' to exhort Christians to consider the need…

Speaker Bercow’s Trump ban is political, but his wig abolition is a greater contempt

February 7, 2017
344 Comments

You don't have to be fan of Donald Trump not to feel a certain disquiet at the summary proclamation of Speaker Bercow that the President of the United States will…

Man plans, God laughs: House of Commons votes to trigger Article 50

December 8, 2016
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The House of Commons has voted to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty – by which the UK will begin secession negotiations with the EU – by the end…