Boris, feet, table… Do not judge by appearances
A photograph of Boris Johnson putting his feet on a table in the Elysée Palace has circled the world. How crass, boorish, discourteous and bullish, they all cried. Thing is...…
Law
Lawfare — politics is now waged through the Courts
There is one enduring feature of all functional democracies – that of balance. Over-mighty monarchs, barons, presidents or workers' councils do not make for happy societies. If the definition of a gentleman is 'a man who knows how to play…
Church of England guidance used against Christian in court
There's something ever so slightly disquieting about this, but not for the reasons permeating the websites and chat-threads of Evangelical Christendom. Dr David Mackereth, who said in a Department of…
Scrupulous for Christ: saving the Church from the doctrine of the infallibles
Ever since Jesus cried 'Woe' to the scribes and Pharisees, his disciples have been calling out the two-faced hypocrites and judiciously discerning whitewashed tombs – those who look all meek…
Four-day week: mandatory indolence or an interfaith ‘sacred weekend’?
When Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell mooted imposing a four-day week on the British economy (that is, a four-day working week; Labour has no plans to re-calibrate or 'modernise' the solar…
BBC Newsnight provides a pulpit for the myth of secular neutrality
"The best guarantee of religious tolerance is a well-organised secular state... there is a higher authority; it's called the law," proclaimed author Ian McEwan on the BBC's 'Newsnight', in a…
Sovereign Citizens: adolescence has become a political philosophy
This is a guest post by Carl Jacobs: a Christian by grace, a Calvinist by conviction, an American by birth. Husband of one, father of two, an Engineer by profession,…
Nigel Biggar on the degeneracy of academic civility
Professor Nigel Biggar has written for the Times: 'Vile abuse is now tolerated in our universities'. He tells us: "The spitting hatred I suffered over my views on empire shows…
Rowan Williams was denounced for saying Sharia Law in UK was inevitable, so why isn’t Justin Welby being commended for saying it’s not?
Back in 2008, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams delivered a cerebral lecture about society and pluralism to a huddle of lawyers gathered in London. It might have remained fairly…
The George Bell saga evidences a CofE legal culture which is not merely incompetent, but predisposed toward deception and injustice
How many times must I forgive my errant brother? St Matthew tells us it is seventy times seven, which, by my reckoning, suggests that Archbishop Justin has at least another…
Critic of Gay Pride police car gets reported for ‘Muslim mob’ joke
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…
Boris, whisky, and Sikhs who think they’re Muslims
Boris, whisky and Sikhs? Can you talk about alcohol in a gurdwara? What does the Guru Granth Sahib say about it? "I wouldn't go there," counselled Aaqil Ahmed, former Head…
An abused dog howls for the love of God
An abused dog is stroked for the first time. The sound is piercing and distressing. It isn't quite a howl of anguish; more a shriek of intense fear. It…
Justice for Greville Janner and the Bookkeeper of Auschwitz
Labour peer Greville Janner (left), aged 86, will apparently not be prosecuted over allegations of historic child abuse because the Crown Prosecution Service says his evidence could not be…
If imams may not influence voters, why should priests or bishops?
According to Dominic Kennedy, Investigations Editor of The Times, there is an 18th-century law which prohibits the 'spiritual influence' of the electorate in the process of democracy. He writes…
Gendercide Abortion – a Bill to unite Pro-Life and Pro-Choice advocates
Fiona Bruce MP has drafted a rather important Ten Minute Rule Bill which she intends to present to Parliament on Tuesday 4th November. It has the support of a…