Diversity

Lidl UK compounds cross removal by treating its customers as idiots

September 4, 2017
Archbishop Cranmer
490 Comments

Lidl have been selling their own brand (Eirdanous) Greek food (moussaka, halloumi, meatballs, yoghurt etc) with a doctored image. Perhaps it wouldn't matter if they'd made the Aegean a little more turquoise or photoshopped the beggars out from around the…

LGBT Pride London: police attempt to remove ‘Allah is Gay’ placards for causing offence

July 16, 2017
483 Comments

"Pride is full of placards saying 'God is Gay', 'Jesus had two fathers', as well as those mocking the church and priests and pope," writes Maryam Namazie, spokeswoman for the…

The Church of England’s obsession with diversity is damaging its orthodoxy

July 7, 2017
186 Comments

"Your Grace, do you by chance know what 'Sexuality, composition of themed groups' is? Or what it has to do with the price of fish?" tweeted George Trefgarne in response…

Critic of Gay Pride police car gets reported for ‘Muslim mob’ joke

June 28, 2017
316 Comments

Inspector Mark Evans of Sussex Police is very proud of his new patrol car. So proud, in fact, that he tweeted about it, which is perfectly fine: it's a free…

Why does the Church of England sneer at grammar schools?

April 10, 2017
427 Comments

The Church of England is apparently not interested in opening new grammar schools. In an interview with the TES, the CofE's Chief Education Officer, the Rev'd Nigel Genders, says: "We've…

Philip North crisis: ‘Good Disagreement’ has become ‘bad bullying’

March 11, 2017
308 Comments

This is a guest post by the Rev’d Dr Gavin Ashenden, former Chaplain to the Queen. ___________________________ When the house that has been painstakingly constructed on the sand falls flat,…

If Philip North can’t be Bishop of Sheffield, the Church of England ceases to be catholic

February 25, 2017
620 Comments

The Dean of Christ Church, Professor Martyn Percy, has issued an ultimatum circumspectly entitled 'Questions of Ambiguity and Integrity'. It's quite long, but essentially it boils down to a choice:…

The Church of England should not tear itself apart over homosexuality and same-sex marriage

February 14, 2017
896 Comments

The General Synod of the Church of England is due to 'take note' (or not) of the Bishops' report ‘Marriage and Same Sex Relationships after the Shared Conversations.’ In the…

Chobham Academy makes Islamic religious observance mandatory for pupils of all faiths

September 13, 2016
193 Comments

According to Ofsted, Chobham Academy in the London Borough of Newham is an outstanding school. It is important to begin with that observation, because the school's leaders, governors and sponsor…

Same-sex marriage/blessing confronts Church of England with "a structural flaw of fatal proportions"

August 30, 2016
192 Comments

We have reached Chapter 5 in the great Anglican sexuality saga: 'Church of England parishes consider first step to break away over sexuality'. It isn't clear what the dénouement…

Ukip's "positive vision" for British Islam: ban all Muslim schools

August 8, 2016
278 Comments

Ukip has a Muslim problem, which is fine if they're not particularly concerned about courting the Muslim vote, but not fine if it leads to the formulation of policies…

Michael Gove doesn't want to be PM: he wants meritocracy and freedom

June 4, 2016
50 Comments

"Michael Gove won't admit it, but tonight's EU debate is his first audition for the Tory leadership," wrote Asa Bennett in the Telegraph. Except he didn't because it wasn't.…

Sadiq Khan is Muslim. Get over it!

May 7, 2016
360 Comments

Sadiq Khan has been elected the first Muslim mayor of London. Muslim, Muslim, Muslim. Islam, Islam, Islam. The council-estate sons and daughters of Pakistani bus drivers are taking over…

EU Referendum: Welby asks the fairest questions of all

March 13, 2016
86 Comments

The froth masks the urgency of the substance; the heat deflects from the dominant paradigms of light. The EU Referendum debate is being reduced to a Tory pantomime of…

The Woolf Institute is wrong: Christianity is needed in public life now more than ever

December 15, 2015
223 Comments

This is a guest post by Will Jones who holds a PhD in Political Philosophy from the University of Reading and a diploma in Biblical Studies from Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He currently works…

Bishop of Chelmsford repudiates episcopal "talent pool"

October 1, 2015
0 Comments

It was a glorious sermon, with an audacious, if not subversive (which some may call prophetic) intervention on the Church of England's emerging "talent pool" approach to recognising bishops.…

Queen's Birthday Honours: Bishop Anba Angaelos honoured for services to religious freedom

June 13, 2015
60 Comments

Congratulations to His Grace Bishop Anba Angaelos on being appointed OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2015. As General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK, he…

Homophobia, Islamophobia and the triumph of ideological 'Truth'

March 22, 2015
258 Comments

Christianophobia has never really caught on. Perhaps it is a clumsy etymological construction: three syllables before '-ophobia' is at least one phonetic unit too many, and it isn't at…

Secularists must not be allowed to distort the argument for faith schools

March 16, 2015
254 Comments

Today a new book, The Ins and Outs of Selective Secondary Schools, by the think-tank Civitas is being launched in Parliament. I will be there alongside David Davis MP, Tristram Hunt MP…

What are 'fundamental British values'?

January 29, 2015
178 Comments

In a context of fractious social division and increasing religious tension, the Government is on a quest for national identity, and education is the means by which it will…